


turn the footsteps of your heart back to me

by kimxjeon



Category: Produce 101 (TV), Wanna One (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Childhood Friends, Alternate Universe - High School, Angst, Euiwoong is grumpy and polite, Fluff, HES REALLY SHY, Haknyeon is a nice friend too, Hyeongseop is a crybaby, ITS KIM YERIM NOT PARK YERIM THATS INCEST, Jihoon is nice and the mom of the squad, Jinyoung is an introvert but not with Jihoon, M/M, Pining, Woojin is shy and awkward, but not really, i was like ten when i wrote this, im sorry woojin, not really either, uh wow its been a month since this fic and im here realizing how ugly i made woojin
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-03
Updated: 2017-07-03
Packaged: 2018-11-22 20:04:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 20,811
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11387430
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kimxjeon/pseuds/kimxjeon
Summary: Woojin's eyes widened at the sight of more tears flowing out."Don't cry! You didn't do anything wrong! It was just me, I'm sorry, please don't—"Hyeongseop laughed again. "It's called tears of joy, Woojinie.""—cry—tears of joy?" Woojin asked, face now transforming from looking worried to being confused.





	turn the footsteps of your heart back to me

**Author's Note:**

> woojin please return ur love for hyeongseop when will this one sided love end 
> 
> (this is actual word vomit and sorta for self indulgence IT WASNT EVEN SUPPOSED TO BE MORE THAN 10K)
> 
> PEOPLE spell it as hyeongseob more often but yuehua said its spelled as hyeongseop so yeet
> 
> I NEGLECTED THEIR REAL LIFE SIBLINGS SORRY and i made woojin really shy too :((( sorry if the characterization is ugly im p disappointed in myself as well

"Park Woojin," he mutters as he fumbles with his backpack strap, standing in front of the classroom on the first day of elementary school.

"Where are you from, Woojin?" the teacher beside him asks in a soft voice, smiling down at the boy who's staring at the floor. His teacher certainly recognizes his accent, but she wants him to feel more comfortable to speak up.

"I-I'm from Busan," he responds. The teacher nods, not wanting to ask any more questions.

"Very well," she says, looking at the rest of his new classmates with her hand on his shoulder. "Treat Woojin nicely, everyone, and be friends with him, you wouldn't want anyone in this class to feel lonely, don't you?"

The whole class shouts ' _no_!' and the teacher smiles. "You can go sit next to Jihoon," she tells Woojin, pointing to the empty seat next to a guy with crimson cheeks who's looking at him eagerly. Woojin nods, slowly going to his seat, and the other children in the class start calling out his name, grinning up at him. Woojin, being extremely shy and awkward, ignores them as he seats himself.

"Hello, I'm Park Jihoon," the guy next to him grins up at him, teeth crooked and lips chapped. Woojin glances at him, trying to be friendly.

"Hello," he replies in a small voice.

Jihoon's whole body is turned around facing Woojin's side, and Woojin's hands are placed on his lap. Jihoon stares at them before looking up at Woojin again. "We're the only Parks in this class," he giggles. "Does that mean we're related?"

Woojin finally faces Jihoon and meets his eyes. He nods slowly. "I guess?" Jihoon's grin gets wider.

 

 

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

 

"These are my other friends, Haknyeon and Hyeongseop!" Jihoon announces happily, finally letting go of Woojin's wrist after dragging him from their classroom to the school playground. "You guys left class early!" He pouts.

"You were having fun with Woojin, and we didn't want to wait," Haknyeon responds, biting the apple in his hands he brought from home. Hyeongseop frowns.

"Haknyeon brought me outside! I wanted to wait for you but he dragged me," he whines, but stops when his eyes land on the boy behind Jihoon. He tilts his head to look at him clearly. "Hi Woojin!" he says. Woojin finally looks up and his eyes look away as fast as they meet Hyeongseop's. Hyeongseop is now tilting his body, staring at Woojin whose hands are fidgeting. He notices the latter's discomfort and stands up straight before walking up to Woojin properly. "I'm Hyeongseop."

Woojin stares at the hand in front of him, which is calling for his own hand to shake it. His hand automatically moves from his mouth after biting his nails. He stops himself from making contact with the other hand, scared if Hyeongseop finds him disgusting and doesn't want to hold his hand after what he has done to it.

His eyes lift up to look at the other boy. Hyeongseop is already looking at him with his eyes glittering and Woojin is somehow enthralled because _how is that possible?_

His mouth opens a little in awe, and he is even more attracted when Hyeongseop reaches for his dirty hand and shakes it without hesitation. He giggles up at him, showing his dimples underneath his eyes, and Woojin only stares at him fondly. "I hope we can be good friends!" he cheers, smiling brightly.

 

 

 

 

* * *

 

  

 

 

 

"Woojinie, what are you dressing up as for Halloween this year?" Hyeongseop asks, throwing a candy into his mouth. It has been a year since they have been friends, and Woojin has been slowly opening up to them, but he is still partly shy.

"I-I'm not sure," he replies, glancing up at Hyeongseop who's trying to open another packet of candy. "Hey, you'll get a sweet tooth!"

Hyeongseop pauses, and turns to look at Woojin. He grins, and Woojin cringes at the sight of two missing teeth in front. "I can't help it." Woojin shakes his head, and Hyeongseop pouts because Woojin is too mature for his age. "Last year you dressed up as Spiderman, and coincidentally I dressed up as another superhero! I was Batman, remember?"

Woojin nods, faintly remembering the time when Hyeongseop knocked on his door early morning, and yelled ' _trick or treat_!' at Woojin's mother, who was surprised. Her son rushed down the stairs, and appeared behind her. He furrowed his eyebrows at Hyeongseop.

"Why are you here so early?" he asked in a small voice, fingers clutching his mother's shirt.

"It's Halloween, Woojinie! I want to spend more time with you so I woke up early!" Hyeongseop said cheekily, looking up at Woojin's mother before looking back at his friend whose body was still behind his mother. Woojin flushed.

"Go and dress up quickly, Woojin-ah, your friend wants to play with you," his mother informed softly, taking Woojin's hand so Hyeongseop can fully look at him. Hyeongseop nodded eagerly.

"B-but," Woojin started.

"You can take your time!" his best friend insisted. "I'll wait!" Then he seated himself on the mini stairs in front of Woojin's veranda, facing the neighborhood street. He turned his body around to give a thumbs up to Woojin.

His smile fell when he saw Woojin frowning at him, still standing by the door. He was about to ask what was wrong, but Woojin stormed out of his house to grab Hyeongseop's wrist, forcing him to stand up from sitting down on the stairs. He looked furious, and Hyeongseop fretted as he regained his balance while walking.

"You're not waiting _here_. You're coming up to my room!" Woojin urged, dragging Hyeongseop upstairs quickly, passing by his mother who was shocked at his son's bold action.

Woojin didn't look at him but Hyeongseop could see his unhappy expression. His bottom lip quivered because he had never seen Woojin look so mad and he was scared if he was the one who caused it.

Both of them entered his bedroom and it was the first time Hyeongseop was in it. He was supposed to feel happy and comfortable because he could actually think about how big and nice this room was but the thoughts of Woojin being angry at him clouded his mind even more.

Woojin shut the door while Hyeongseop only stood beside it, eyes wide and body rigid. Woojin was about to approach his closet, but stopped in his tracks when he realized Hyeongseop's state. Woojin stepped back and studied his friend.

"What's wrong?"

"Are you mad at me?" Hyeongseop asked in a small voice, not looking at Woojin.

"What?" Woojin snapped, obviously confused but he started to understand after Hyeongseop flinched at his harsh tone. "I-I'm sorry," he said. He tried to step forward and comfort Hyeongseop who looked smaller and vulnerable than usual, but as usual he stopped himself before he touched the other. "Please don't be sad."

Hyeongseop finally looked up at Woojin, and he almost lost his balance when he saw the other's fazed expression. Woojin's face went from being angry to being worried; his bottom lip was jutting out a little.

It was back to the Woojin he knew; shy and scared, but this was the worst look he had ever expressed and Hyeongseop suddenly felt guilty. He was about to respond but gasped when he felt something wet going down his left cheek. Woojin only noticed when he decided to break the silence but instead was greeted with Hyeongseop rubbing his eyes.

"I'm sorry," he whispered out again. "Don't cry. I-I was just mad b-because you came here to see me but I didn't prepare anything s-so I felt bad." He approached Hyeongseop and for the first time he initiated physical contact. He took Hyeongseop's hands away from his face and gazed up at him. "I didn't mean to scare you."

Hyeongseop smiled, and sighed in relief. "I thought I did something wrong," he breathed out and laughed. Woojin's eyes widened at the sight of more tears flowing out.

"Don't cry! You didn't do anything wrong! It was just me, I'm sorry, please don't—"

Hyeongseop laughed again. "It's called tears of joy, Woojinie."

"—cry—tears of _joy_?" Woojin asked, face now transforming from looking worried to being confused.

"I thought you were smarter than me," Hyeongseop snickered. Woojin scoffed, letting go of Hyeongseop's hands.

"Yah! I let you in my room not for you to insult me!" he said. "Even if we're the same age, don't forget I'm taller than you!" he huffed out, crossing his arms together. He stomped off to his bed and sat down there. Hyeongseop continued to giggle.

"You're so cute, Woojinie!" he squealed, plopping himself down next to Woojin on his bed. He pinched Woojin's cheeks, and Woojin froze, clearly not used to it.

He blushed anyway, and said some mean words to Hyeongseop without meaning them even if his ears were feeling hot and looking red.

 

 

 

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

 

"Woojin, did you hear?" Hyeongseop whispers to his ear. He leans away to eye their surrounding before continuing to whisper again. "Eunki-hyung likes boys."

Woojin raises a brow at him, not surprised. He responds in his normal tone, "Doesn't he have a crush on Jungjung-hyu—" His eyes widen when Hyeongseop slaps his hand on his mouth.

"Shhhh!" he says, looking left and right again. "You're not supposed to say it out loud," he hisses. Woojin rolls his eyes, and licks Hyeongseop's hand. "Ew!" he shrieks, hand now on Woojin's lap, trying to rub his hand on his school pants. Woojin smirks as if Hyeongseop isn't dirtying his pants.

It is true that Hyeongseop has no shame. He wouldn't have flinched if Woojin did something disgusting, but they've been friends for four years and Woojin has been bolder than before, so he himself is more brave in mocking Woojin in return.

"You're so gross," Hyeongseop scoffs, and he grabs Jihoon's hand sanitizer near him and pours out almost half of it.

"Hey! You're going to finish all of that!" Jihoon yells, taking back the bottle and glaring at Hyeongseop. He lets out an incredulous gasp when he sees that three quarter of the hand sanitizer has been used up.

Hyeongseop ignores him, and quickly rubs his hands together, scowling at Woojin who grins cheekily at him and _who can stay mad at that?_ Hyeongseop tries to ignore the way his revulsion dissipates at the thought of how Woojin has opened up more for the past few years and it makes Hyeongseop's heart beat so fast these days; _it's crazy._

"I-I can't believe you," he stutters, and cusses to himself because he never stutters in front of his friends. Woojin seems to forget that, and only shrugs.

"There's nothing wrong with liking boys anyway," he says casually, opening his mouth to eat his burger. Hyeongseop's hands slow down, and he stares at Woojin discreetly. He has always wondered how does it feel like to have a crush, and that thought only makes him feel dizzy when it comes to thinking about Woojin.

Honestly, he is scared.

 

 

 

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

 

 

He asks his mother a year later.

"Woojin told me it's fine if I like boys," he says to his mother who is preparing dinner in the kitchen. "Is it true?" He looks up to see his mother's reaction.

His mother stops cutting the garlic, and she turns around to look at Hyeongseop. He expects her to get mad at him, to lecture him about how this is a weird topic because Hyeongseop sees the way some people react to his male seniors holding each other's hands and they are all not very... nice looking.

Instead, his mother smiles, and she looks at Hyeongseop as if she is studying him. She goes back to cutting. "Sure, I don't see anything wrong with that."

Hyeongseop's mouth forms an 'o' shape which Woojin does a lot. Somehow he has sort of been picking up his best friend's habits, and he immediately closes his mouth before he can think about anything else. He is about to go down from his seat in the kitchen bar, but his mother speaks up again.

"Why? Do you have a crush on a boy, Seop-ah?" she asks.

Hyeongseop almost falls down from the stool. "W-what?" He stares at the ground below his feet, so he doesn't see his mother's soft knowing smile. "W-why would you think that, mom? I was just curious!" he splutters.

She chuckles while Hyeongseop is still staring downcast.

"Whatever you say," she says. "You can tell me anything, you know that."

He doesn't realize his eyebrows were furrowed and his nostrils were flaring until he looks up to see his mother. He deflates. "Yes, mom."

This has been a hot topic between his group of friends; all four boys are always filled with curiosity so they are always thinking and doing something new.

However, none of them have ever talked about them being gay—only talking about other people and the possibilities of actually liking the same gender, until today.

"I-I think I have a crush on Jinyoung," Jihoon tells his friends one afternoon during lunch time. He looks redder than usual, and the fact that he finally let these words out makes him exhale in relief.

Hyeongseop stops munching on his food, Haknyeon stares at him and Woojin continues eating as if what Jihoon said is a normal thing to hear.

"Jinyoung? As in, Bae Jinyoung?" Hyeongseop asks. Jihoon winces at the mention of his full name, but nods. Haknyeon and Hyeongseop look at each other, and both of them burst out laughing. The other two look at them in confusion.

"What's funny?" Jihoon asks. That is obviously not the reaction he expected but it is still weird.

"We thought you had a crush on Kang Mina!"

"Who?"

"You know, the girl who sits behind you in Maths class?" Hyeongseop snickers.

Jihoon looks shocked, and he stares at his friends as if they're crazy _(they probably are)_. "How in the world?"

Woojin rolls his eyes at the choice of words and the way Jihoon has talked is too informal for a polite and nice boy like him. They all don't say anything about it anyway and he continues to watch his friends bantering.

"Well, you always seem to be smiling and laughing when you talk to her..." Haknyeon drifts off.

"I smile and laugh when I talk to you guys," Jihoon deadpans.

"You're always avoiding eye contact when she looks at you and you look away shyly most of the time!" Hyeongseop remarks.

"I'm always like that when it comes to talking people I'm not close with."

"You're close with her, Jihoon," Hyeongseop asserts.

"No, we've only been seatmates for two weeks."

"W-well!" Hyeongseop says, finally remembering how it takes Jihoon as long as Woojin to finally call someone their close friend, especially since almost everyone wants to be friends with Jihoon. "You're always red around her, too!"

"I'm naturally red, Hyeongseop. Do you even know me?" Jihoon raises a brow. His friend groans.

"You're right." He pouts. He thinks about the times when all of them are together with Jinyoung, the boy who is below their grade, and thinks deeply about how Jihoon treats him. "Well, when you're with Jinyoung, you are very cheeky."

Haknyeon nods, agreeging.

"And when Jinyoung looks down because he's flustered you'll start cooing at him, ruffling his hair."

Haknyeon hums again in agreement.

"When all of us hang out together, you will always be standing beside him, and sometimes you would hold his hands, which is, very _gay_."

Jihoon groans. Haknyeon laughs while nodding again.

"Oh, don't forget that one time during Valentine's Day you received a lot of love letters and chocolates but you ignored all of them and spent the day with Jinyoung!" Hyeongseop snaps his fingers. "I should have seen it coming!"

"What are you now? A _detective_?" Jihoon says.

"I guess you can say that," Hyeongseop replies smugly.

Haknyeon processes the words Hyeongseop have said. "Wait, so those are signs that show Jihoon has a crush on Jinyoung?" Hyeongseop nods while Jihoon shrugs. Haknyeon's mouth form an 'o' shape, and he points at Woojin. "Aren't those the things Hyeongseop does to Woojin?"

"W-what do you mean?" Hyeongseop says, smile dropping.

Haknyeon smirks. "Does this mean you have a crush on Woojin?"

Woojin's eyes widen, and he looks at Hyeongseop who looks so incredulous with his mouth opening and his eyebrows furrowed.

"I do _not_!" he stammers out. Woojin only continues to study Hyeongseop with his round eyes. Haknyeon starts to laugh when Woojin and Hyeongseop's faces turn red.

Hyeongseop looks at Woojin and gives him a look that what Haknyeon is saying is not true. Woojin just keeps blushing while Jihoon tries to hold back a smile but failing, and now he is giggling at the two of them who suddenly look so embarrassed.

Hyeongseop and Woojin do not talk to each other after that until they have to go back home from school.

"So, a-about just now," Hyeongseop starts. Both of them don't look at each other but only at their feet moving on the ground.

"Yeah," Woojin says.

"Um..."

"Is it true?" he asks, not looking up. Hyeongseop snaps his head up to look at him.

"Of course it's not!" he defends himself on reflex. Woojin continues to look down.

"Oh."

Hyeongseop swears he is just imagining it when he sees Woojin's expression looking disappointed. On impulse, he asks about it.

"Why? Are you sad?"

Woojin finally lifts his head up and begins to splutter. "W-what? No! I'm just— no I'm not." He looks down again.

"Aw, Woojinie," Hyeongseop teases. "I'm sorry, but one day I'll fall for you."

The other looks at him, a playful petrified look on his face. "No thanks."

Hyeongseop sticks his tongue out at him. "What? You're lovable."

"Shut up, Seop."

"Don't worry, Woojinie! I'll definitely develop feelings for you."

"Please don't—"

"I will! Just wait for me!" Hyeongseop declares, waving at Woojin because they are finally at his house so he opens the door and puts his arms on top of his head to form a heart.

Woojin laughs at him, shaking his head. Hyeongseop, satisfied, goes in and closes the door.

Woojin feels his cheeks heat up.

 

 

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

 

"It's my birthday today," Hyeongseop says to himself as he gets up from his bed. He grins as he quickly takes a shower and goes down the stairs. He is turning eleven years old and he can't wait to meet his friends and receive all of their gifts in school.

"The birthday boy is up!" his mother announces when he appears in the kitchen. He goes up to her and pulls her into a hug. "Happy birthday, my baby."

"Thank you, mom," he replies, pulling away and kissing his mother's cheek. "What do I get for my birthday this year?"

His mother chuckles. "I'll give it to you later."

He whines, "Why? I'm gonna die figuring out what is it in school."

"You gotta be patient," she tells him, patting his head.

He pouts, but nods anyway. He doesn't want to waste his time and only wants to listen to her.

"I'm gonna go to Woojin's now!" he yells, and waves to his mother who tells him to be safe and go back home safely, as usual. He runs to Woojin's house and arrives earlier than he normally does.

When he is about to ring the doorbell, the door swings open and Woojin steps out of the house.

Hyeongseop grins at him. "Hi Woojinie!"

Woojin smiles back shyly, "Hey Seopie."

Both of them stand in front of each other with Hyeongseop looking up at him expectantly, waiting for his best friend to greet him a happy birthday. Woojin only pats his head and passes by him.

"Let's go now," he says. He stops and turns around when Hyeongseop doesn't follow him. "What's wrong?"

Hyeongseop's smile falls. _Is Woojin serious?_ He remembers telling all of his friends his birthday. He even reminded them yesterday after school ended but _why does Woojin look so blank?_

Hyeongseop opens his mouth, about to snap at him and whine about him forgetting, but he doesn't want to be sad on his birthday.

He puts on his smile again, and approaches Woojin. "Alright, let's go!"

The whole day in school, none of his friends have greeted him. Not even his other classmates, and they're all friends. They all know his birthday. In the past few years, they always sing him the birthday song in every class but today they just talk and smile at him like it's a normal day.

Hyeongseop doesn't have the heart to remind them about it after seeing Woojin not remembering about it. He feels despondent and for the whole day he just makes a grumpy face even when he told himself to be happy.

He doesn't really initiate any conversations with Woojin on the way to their houses from school. He only mumbles replies when Woojin asks him questions and he is too sad to feel bad that Woojin looks so uncomfortable and awkward.

He bites his fingernails looking repeatedly at the ground and at Hyeongseop whose neck is bent down as he stares at the ground with a dejected face.

Woojin clears his throat and nudges him. "Hey, wanna go up to my room?"

Hyeongseop grumbles in reply.

Woojin's hands go up his mouth to bite his fingernails again but he stops himself and pulls Hyeongseop's wrist with his other hand.

"Let's go, I wanna show you a new game."

Hyeongseop whines but he lets Woojin pull him anyway. They finally enter his room and Hyeongseop sits down on his bed. He finally looks up due to curiosity and watches as Woojin go around the room to find something.

"What are you looking for?" he asks.

Woojin pauses, and he looks at Hyeongseop. "Wait," he says. "Stay here, let me find it."

Hyeongseop gives him a confused look, and Woojin smiles sheepishly before going out of the room. He opens the door again and puts his head inside. "It's gonna take a while."

Before Hyeongseop can open his mouth, the door closes. He frowns harder, and crosses his arm while huffing out. "This is the worst birthday ever," he mutters. He lies down on Woojin's bed in anger, and closes his eyes.

Ten minutes later he wakes up and realizes he has fallen asleep. He sits up quickly, and checks his watch. _Where is Woojin?_ he thinks as he looks around the room and sees no one else.

He sighs, taking his bag and opening the door. He goes around the house to find for Woojin but he is nowhere to be found. His eyebrows scrunch up together in worry.

He almost has a heart attack when Woojin's mother calls him, "Hyeongseop, is that you?"

"Y-yeah."

"Your mother called, she's looking for you."

"Oh, tell her I am looking for Woojin," he informs.

"Woojin? It's fine, I can look for him," she tells him, waving her hand. "I'll walk you there, let's go."

"But—" Hyeongseop starts, but he bites his tongue because _why should he care about Woojin?_ He forgot his birthday so he just nods and walks down a few houses with Woojin's mother.

"I can enter by myself now, thank you for accompanying me," he says, bowing to her when they arrive in front of his house.

She smiles at him, "I wanna meet your mother."

Hyeongseop flushes. "Oh, then let's go in."

He rings the doorbell once before opening the door when he finds out it's unlocked. He looks behind him to see if she is following and when the door fully opens he turns around again.

"Happy birthday!" familiar voices cheer.

Hyeongseop screams, running out of the house and almost pushing Woojin's mother away. He grabs ahold his backpack and runs as fast as he can. He stops to catch his breath and bends down, feeling like his heart has dropped and that his soul has left his body.

He breathes in and out heavily, hands on his knees. He turns around and stands up straight. From afar, he can see a group of people his age gathering in front of his house.

He tilts his head, and they all look like they are laughing and pointing at him. He is confused, _what are they doing?_ He turns around to see if there's someone behind him, but he finds no one.

He looks at them again, and he starts walking towards them, mouth gaping at how the sound of them laughing is so loud. It takes him a while to register everything.

_Happy birthday!_

He groans when he realizes he is facing his friends. All of them are laughing at him; his best friends, his classmates, his mother and Woojin's mother.

"Oh my God, Hyeongseop-ah!"

"I didn't expect that!"

"You ran so fast!"

"That was so funny."

He glares at each and every grinning one of them, and stops when he sees Woojin in the middle. Woojin isn't laughing but he is making that indecipherable look again. His mouth is open, his eyes are studying Hyeongseop with mirth and worry mixed in them.

Hyeongseop approaches him.

"What's this?" he asks, voice cracking and face confused.

"H-happy birthday?" Woojin stammers out.

Hyeongseop ignores the way the others seem to be looking at them, as if they're watching Woojin about to propose to Hyeongseop— _at least,_ that's what Hyeongseop has seen in movies, but his bottom lip trembles seeing Woojin like this.

"I thought you forgot," he breathes out.

Woojin puts on a guilty look, and he almost starts to bite his fingernails. "I'm sorry, I wanted to surprise you. I-I've planned this a long time ago. I wanted to greet you after I woke up b-but the others suggested that we pretend to forget your birthday so we could shock you even more and we— are you crying? Hyeongseop, I'm so so _so_ sorry, don't cry!"

He looks so worried, and it makes Hyeongseop cry even more.

"Seopie, d-don't cry. I'll never do it again, I—"

Hyeongseop chuckles, rubbing his eyes.

"Woojinie, it's called tears of joy, _remember?_ "

 

 

 

  

* * *

 

 

 

 

"Why is middle school so hard?" Hyeongseop whines as he lies down on Woojin's bed, flipping through his textbook while Woojin sits on his desk trying to finish his homework.

"We're only in our first year. You're overreacting," Woojin says, and the other can sense him rolling his eyes.

"No, I'm not." Hyeongseop sighs. "I miss elementary school."

"We just graduated from elementary school last year."

"I know that."

"Why are you bringing this up?" Woojin asks, not looking away from his homework as Hyeongseop listens to him writing on the paper.

"I don't like growing up."

"I don't think anyone does."

Hyeongseop hums. Both of them fall into silence. He is now lying on his back, one arm up as he stares at the ceiling. He is at Woojin's house and right now they are being productive and are trying to finish their homework.

Hyeongseop feels unmotivated for some reason, and he sighs, putting his arm down. A weird thought appears in his head, so he breaks the silence.

"How does it feel like, kissing a guy?" he asks. He senses Woojin stopping when he doesn't hear the sound of the squeaking of a pencil, and Hyeongseop only stares at his back, sitting up.

Woojin swivels around. "Tsk, you haven't even had your first kiss, and you're only talking about kissing guys." Hyeongseop is flustered because _can he be more obvious?_

He glares at Woojin. "You haven't had yours, either."

"I don't care, and I'm not planning to." He shrugs, and Hyeongseop gulps; confused at the way his heart drops at Woojin's words. He hopes that his expression doesn't fall, as he clears his throat to maintain his composure. He looks into Woojin's eyes from his bed.

"You had a girlfriend before, how come you guys didn't kiss each other at all?" he squeaks out, hoping his voice doesn't sound sad. If Woojin notices, he doesn't say anything, and only shrugs once again.

"We only dated for five days," he says, looking down at his lap. "Kissing wasn't really that necessary." Hyeongseop purses his lips, _five?_ He sure remembers that it felt so long; that those five days were the most miserable that he doesn't want to experience that feeling of heartbreak ever again. He is still young, but he has felt so many emotions thanks to Park Woojin and he hates it so much.

Hyeongseop stands up from the bed, and he slowly approaches Woojin. The other guy looks up at Hyeongseop with a puzzled expresion. "What are you doing?" he asks when Hyeongseop stands up in front of him.

He looks down at Woojin who is sitting down on his chair with a confident look on his face. The confidence vanishes when he perceives how perplexed Woojin looks right now. He suddenly feels so small and now he wants to go back to his previous position but he is already here and he wants to get it over with. "Woojinie." The latter nods in response. "C-Can I kiss you?"

"W-what?" Woojin asks, pupils now dilated and expression even more baffled. Hyeongseop regrets asking. Woojin probably thinks he is weird because _yeah this is weird_ and he needs to step back and apologize but Woojin holds his wrist. "Are you okay, Seop?"

Hyeongseop tries to ignore the way his heart flutters as it usually does when Woojin says his nickname, and he decides to stare at the pile of books behind Woojin. "I-I'm fine," he whimpers out. "Forget I asked."

Woojin feels bad. Hyeongseop looks like he is about to cry and the last time this happened Woojin felt like the worst person ever to exist. He can't deny that he is uncomfortable and he has never been more muddled but there is no way he is letting his best friend release his tears because of him again.

"No." He doesn't know how and where does this daring thought come from but he tries to affirm. He tightens his grasp around Hyeongseop's wrist. "Do you really want to?"

Hyeongseop's breath hitches silently, and he looks down at Woojin. He nods, but he knows he probably looks unsure. He isn't sure why he wants this, but he feels like he needs to do it. He has to do it. His current excuse is to know how does it feel like to kiss someone, but his inner mind is telling him to make Woojin his first kiss, and take Woojin's first kiss. He believes in the first one.

He bends down, and Woojin cranes his neck up so Hyeongseop can lean in easily. "I'm not sure how to do this," he utters.

Woojin chuckles. "I'm not sure either."

"I-I guess we can learn it ourselves," he mutters. Hyeongseop moves forward but stops before his lips touch Woojin's. "But you don't really have t—" He is cut off by Woojin leaning in and now their lips have met. Hyeongseop's eyes are open wide, staring into Woojin's which are closed. He waits for a few seconds later until he finally closes them, leaning into the kiss.

This position is awkward and he feels weird. He wonders if kissing is weird or if they're just doing this wrongly. But Woojin is still clutching his wrist and he is sure Woojin can feel his beating pulse in his veins.

They pull away, and Woojin looks at him. Hyeongseop doesn't open his eyes until he feels Woojin tugging him down. He looks at Woojin and it seems like the other is telling him to bend further down. Hyeongseop doesn't know what to do. He wants to tell him that his body hurts from bending down already but he still wants to kiss Woojin so he doesn't care if it hurts.

Woojin notices his pain anyway like the true best friend he is and starts to move away, but Hyeongseop quickly follows his instinct and sits down on his lap, wrapping his arms around Woojin's neck. He mutters near his face, "Is this okay?"

Woojin freezes for a few seconds, because this position is too intimate but he nods anyway, and Hyeongseop bravely leans in, smashing their lips together.

Their noses bump together accidentally, and both of them groan in pain. Woojin tilts his head before Hyeongseop can pull away so they are in a nicer position. Hyeongseop feels contented at the way their lips seem to mold each other perfectly. He almost smiles at himself because he doesn't know where did that thought come from.

They stay like that until Hyeongseop yelps—pulling away when Woojin starts to put his arms around Hyeongseop's waist.

"I-I'm sorry," Woojin says, letting go.

"No no, it's fine," Hyeongseop assures. "I was just surprised."

"Oh?"

"Oh."

Hyeongseop kisses him again, and Woojin securely holds his waist. _Oh my god,_ Hyeongseop thinks. _This is so wrong._

He doesn't want to think further, and pushes away his thoughts of the consequences of this as he kisses Woojin deeper, while Woojin's grip around his waist stiffens.

_What are we doing?_

 

 

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

 

Jihoon and Haknyeon stare at them. They face each other before looking back at their neighbours in class who sit behind them. The seatmates usually talk, sometimes with the two in front being left out due to them always being in their own world, but now they're not even looking at each other.

"Is the world ending?" Haknyeon says.

"Maybe," Jihoon replies.

Woojin fiddles with his pencil on his desk, while Hyeongseop plays with his fingers on his lap. Both of them avoid making eye contacts with anyone, looking at stuff or around the room. Hyeongseop only glances up when his two friends stay silent for a long time.

"No, it's not," he mutters.

"Sure, but are you guys alright?" Haknyeon asks, raising a brow. He watches as Hyeongseop sneaks a glance at Woojin, and it makes the situation more suspicious. He doesn't get a reply, and a few moments later, it clicks. "No way! Is this what I think it is?"

Hyeongseop and Woojin simultaneously whip their heads up, and they immediately say no, not knowing what the boy is going to say, but knows it is going to be something ridiculous.

Jihoon shakes his head, and he scrutinises both of them. He is about to speak up but the teacher walks in.

"I don't know what's going on," Jihoon quickly says. "But I hope you guys talk about it as soon as possible." He turns his body from them and faces the teacher with all of the others who are standing up to greet her.

Hyeongseop mumbles the greeting in unison with the rest of the class, then sits down. It's so weird and awkward beside Woojin. They have been seatmates for so many years as they are miraculously always in the same class together since the first grade, and now they're in the seventh grade.

He has never thought this day would come so soon; the day when he and Woojin stop talking to each other. He wasn't ready for this. He finds class more boring than usual, not having someone to distract him or discuss stuff with him. He keeps glancing at Woojin, but the other only watches the teacher who's teaching in front.

He regrets it so much. If he knew this would hurt so much, he wouldn't have asked Woojin to kiss him. He wouldn't have made Woojin feel bad for rejecting that he had to deal with Hyeongseop. Hyeongseop feels so sorry. He is the closest to Woojin, and vice versa than his other friends.

It's funny, since he has been friends longer with Jihoon and Haknyeon than Woojin, and somehow Hyeongseop has a crush on Woojin—instead of anyone else.

He is to be blamed too, for the fact that they're not interacting. For the first time Hyeongseop didn't go to Woojin's house, and only heading straight to school.

His mother was confused when she saw him going to the opposite way of Woojin's house, so she called him. He stopped and turned around. "Seop-ah, is Woojin going to school?"

Hyeongseop winced. He didn't think his mother would notice. He is the worst at lying, and when he lies it makes him feel guilty anyway so he answered truthfully. "He is."

She wanted to ask more questions, but his son was avoiding his eyes, and he didn't look comfortable. She sighed. "Okay, come back home safely."

"I'm not in elementary school anymore," he grumbled. His mother laughed.

"You'll always be my little boy."

Hyeongseop looked up and somehow his worries had been reduced at the sight of his mother's smile. He automatically smiled back. "Bye, mom! I love you!"

He waved to his mother and zoomed out of her sight, grinning when his mother shouted, "Be careful! And I love you too!"

He came earlier than Woojin to class. When the said boy arrived, Hyeongseop ignored his presence and continued blabbering to Jihoon who gave a smile to Woojin.

Woojin sat down beside him, making a loud noise when putting his bag which made the whole class fall silent. Hyeongseop stopped speaking, and Jihoon only stared at him with their other classmates.

Woojin didn't say anything, looking indecipherable but actions furious. He took out one of his textbooks and flipped through it. The others started whispering while Jihoon glanced at Hyeongseop, waiting for him to say something to Woojin, but the guy looked scared.

He was biting his lower lip with his eyebrows furrowed worrily. Jihoon looked at Woojin who had a poker face on, and back at Hyeongseop who looked like he was about to cry.

 _Thank God Haknyeon arrived at that moment,_ Jihoon thought.

Hyeongseop's thoughts drown out his teacher's voice, and he only stares at nowhere. He isn't focusing. He has no idea where he is and what he is supposed to do. He misses Woojin.

Woojin is beside him, so he can reach out to him, but yet he seems so far away. He put his hands up to cover his face, and slowly rubs his temples.

His lips quirk upward. _I'm so pathetic._

 

 

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

 

 

 

"I'm done," Woojin says, standing up as he picks up his trash. Hyeongseop fixes his gaze on his food while Jihoon and Haknyeon look up.

"You didn't finish your food," Haknyeon tells him.

"I'm not hungry," he mutters. "I'm going to class now."

"We have a lot of time left. Why don't you sit down—" Jihoon starts.

"I gotta complete my homework," Woojin says, eyes flickering from Jihoon to the ground multiple times. Jihoon opens his mouth to ask Woojin the reason why he didn't do it at home; considering he has always finished them since he's always so punctual.

But he stops himself, remembering the fact that Woojin always does his homework with Hyeongseop. And the way both of them seem to act around each other, it's confirmed that something happened and it's not good.

"Okay. We'll meet up with you later," Jihoon replies. Woojin then disappears out of the cafeteria.

Haknyeon frowns. "What is wrong with him?" He looks at Jihoon. Jihoon is concerned, looking at Hyeongseop who's prodding his food with his chopsticks. His heart breaks at the sight of Hyeongseop looking so tired and worn out. He doesn't even have the bright glint that is always present in his eyes.

"He was supposed to do it with me," Hyeongseop mumbles. "But I distracted him."

"What do you mean?"

"We were doing our homework together."

"Oh."

"But I did something... bad."

"Oh?"

"It was my biggest regret," he continues. He stares at his food, and stops moving his chopstick. He looks up at his friends. "We kissed."

Jihoon's eyes widen. Haknyeon lets out a quick shriek. He quickly covers his own mouth, and looks around the people who are staring at him. He grins at them sheepishly. "Sorry!"

"What?" Jihoon asks.

"You heard me," he says monotonously. He has to tell them. They will find out sooner or later anyway.

"We're still thirteen year olds, I didn't know we can kiss at this age," Haknyeon whispers loudly.

"My parents had their first kiss at the age of five," Jihoon tells him nonchalantly. Haknyeon gasps.

"That's like the age of my youngest sister!" he yells. "I ain't letting anyone come near her."

Hyeongseop can't help but laugh.

"Well, thankfully the Hyeongseop we know is still there," Haknyeon jokes. Hyeongseop sticks his tongue out at him.

"What really happened?" Jihoon asks.

"Well, you see," Hyeongseop drifts off. "I'm sorry for not telling you guys this sooner but I have a crush on Woojin." He glances up to see their reaction, expecting them to be shocked. He almost thinks he's dreaming when their faces are neutral. He sighs. "Is it that obvious?"

"Maybe," Jihoon says as Haknyeon replies, "Yes."

Hyeongseop groans. "Then Woojin knows."

They don't reply, so he takes it as them agreeing. He suddenly feels so exposed. He thought he has been secretive, and maybe he shouldn't have always spent his time staring at Woojin with heart eyes. He wants to scream. If Woojin had known all along, _why didn't he say anything?_

Now Hyeongseop feels even worse that he even asked Woojin for a kiss, thinking that he had probably confirmed Woojin's thoughts about Hyeongseop's crush on him when he did.

Woojin probably felt trapped and conflicted having no choice. Hyeongseop doesn't realize he's crying until he chokes back a sob.

He's still growing up—he's not that old which means he can cry, but the fact that he just hit puberty and he's already having teenage problems, he thinks that he's really pathetic.

"Seop-ah," Jihoon calls out softly, now beside him instead of sitting in front of him. "You should talk to him."

Hyeongseop lifts his head up, but still not looking at his friends. He is too ashamed—crying in school, at this age—when he thought that he is already a grownup that he can have his first kiss.

"I'm scared," he croaks out in between sobs. He sniffs, holding his tears back when he realizes he probably looks like a mess right now. He is a boy in middle school already; he isn't supposed to cry. _God_ , he chuckles. _Am I a teenager already?_ "I've never really messed up before."

"Don't be," Jihoon assures. "I'm pretty sure he doesn't want your friendship to be like this either, so he'll forgive you."

Hyeongseop nods. He nods numerous times. His tears are drying up after he stops crying and starts thinking about the words he's going to say to Woojin. He purses his lips, nodding. He nods again, looking up. "I'll talk to him."

Jihoon smiles.

 

 

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

 

 

 

"Hyeongseop, I know you're there," Woojin says, stopping in his tracks. Hyeongseop freezes, and curses some appropriate profanities (because he is an innocent angel who doesn't know what are actual bad words) before stepping out of his hiding spot.

He grimaces as he stares at Woojin's back. Woojin isn't looking at him. He is just standing there at the street, and Hyeongeeop is anxious as he looks left and right for any approaching cars.

When he walks along these streets with Woojin, he would be the insensible one—always crossing the road without looking for cars, and Woojin would have to pull him away, scolding him to be careful. Hyeongseop would flush most of the time and apologize to Woojin in the cutest way possible. Woojin would roll his eyes playfully and say, "Stop, you're not cute at all."

Hyeongseop would pout, thinking about how the old Woojin would have been red-faced and fall silent, but Woojin has grown up so he has changed; Hyeongseop too.

They've grown up together—not for their whole lives, but it feels like he's known Woojin since he was born, and it's a nice feeling.

But they didn't walk together today; not after what happened. Jihoon and Haknyeon have been giving him looks in class, as if reminding him to speak to Woojin as soon as possible.

His group of friends rarely fight. Even when they do, it's over the littlest things; and since they're males, well, they sort things out quickly. But of course, this is a different case. Hyeongseop still doesn't know where did his curiosity of kissing came from, but maybe it's because sometimes he walks in his older cousin, Eunki kissing his boyfriend, and maybe he thought that it's something they're supposed to do.

Hyeongseop doesn't like that he's gullible and naive; it makes him do things before thinking and he'll only end up regretting it afterwards. _Take the kiss, for example._

But one look at Woojin and his mind goes blank. He really wants to say out the things he wants to, but he keeps on backing out until classes are over, and now he's creeping up on Woojin who's walking back home. He tried to be as discreet as possible, not making any noise and only moving after Woojin does.

That's why he didn't think he would be caught, since Woojin didn't really look like he sensed that someone was following him. Although Hyeongseop knows that Woojin is the type to hide his feelings (like the fact that his reactions are always so neutral and he doesn't even get scared easily too, unlike Hyeongseop who screams when someone drops a pencil during a test in class), Hyeongseop just wants to feel like _he's a cool spy for once goddamnit._

"Are you just gonna stand there?" Woojin asks, finally swiveling his body around to look at Hyeongseop who is frozen behind Woojin.

Hyeongseop gulps when his eyes meet Woojin's. He sheepishly shrugs. Woojin turns his body again, and continues to walk. "If you're not gonna say anything, then fine."

The latter's lips and throat go dry. _Does he really want Woojin to walk away,_ or _is he going to man up and finally talk to Woojin?_

Somehow he feels like his feet has stuck to the ground, and he can't move at all, but his mind and heart are screaming for him to move—run to Woojin and fix this while he can.

He finally drags his feet, and approaches Woojin who seems to be walking at a slower pace than usual. Hyeongseop can't help but feel giddy—did Woojin do it _on purpose,_ so he is able to catch up with him?

"Are you coming over for dinner tonight?" Woojin speaks up, and Hyeongseop gasps on reflex— a habit he really needs to erase. Only then he realizes that he is finally next to Woojin, and he whips his head to stare at the road in front of them.

It's always quiet and peaceful in their neighborhood, so it isn't really a surprise when there aren't any cars around this time; especially since Woojin and Hyeongseop have stayed back in class to clean their classroom, so they went out late.

Friday nights are always dinners at Woojin's, and sometimes Hyeongseop's— they take turns. They have fixed it for Fridays, but it feels like they live at each other's houses already anyway since they come over to see each other every night—doing homework and playing video games.

"I can?" Hyeongseop mumbles to himself quietly, looking at his moving feet. He feels Woojin turn his head to look at him. "I-I mean," he says, blinking. He looks up at Woojin. "I am."

"Okay." Woojin smiles at him, then exhales loudly as he breaks eye contact. He puts a hand up to wave at Hyeongseop. "I'll see you later."

Hyeongseop stops moving, and watches as Woojin enter his house. He suddenly feels embarrassed. He yells silently, before slapping himself and walking away fastly so Woojin doesn't see him scolding himself from the windows.

They were in front of Woojin's house, which meant they already passed by his own house. He finally lets out a scream as he runs to his home. He is pretty sure he is red right now, due to the cold weather, or is it due to the previous incident?

He doesn't know, and doesn't care, but Woojin's giving him a chance, and he doesn't want to ruin it.

 

 

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hyeongseop and his mother stand in front of Woojin's house, waiting for someone to open the door for them. They are finally greeted by Woojin's younger sister, who grins up at them. "Welcome!"

Hyeongseop walks in as his mother rushes to the kitchen. He hugs the younger girl just as he hears his mother saying, "Why did you start preparing without me?"

"Well, today I came back from work early so I thought it'd be better to start early."

His mother scoffs playfully, "Alright, now it's my turn to do it."

He pulls away from the hug and shakes his head when he hears both of the mothers laughing. He enters the living room, instead of heading straight to Woojin's bedroom like he usually does. He plops himself down on one of the couches, and shrieks when he sees Woojin sitting in one of them.

"You get scared so easily," Woojin says in his deep voice. Hyeongseop flushes, and he remembers how high-pitched his voice used to be. He almost pouts at how Woojin is growing up faster than him physically; Hyeongseop's voice is still childish and he also tries not to think about how he is now shorter than Woojin too.

"Hello," he squeaks out, eyes moving from Woojin to his own lap immediately. Woojin is staring at the television and gives him a small wave.

"I knew you wouldn't meet me in my room so I came down here," he informs, and Hyeongseop feels his heart beating quicker than usual. He bites his lower lip hardly, hating on Woojin for being so smart.

Hyeongseop is about to snap back at him—but is thankful when his mother comes in the room and tells them that dinner is ready. He scrunches up his face, and sighs before standing up.

Dinner is normal, except for the lack of communication between the two. Their mothers talk about mother stuff while Woojin and Hyeongseop stay silent, eating their own food quietly.

Hyeongseop's mother tries to ask them about how they're doing in school, and Woojin replies to all of her questions successfully. It isn't until their food have finished that Woojin's mother expresses her confusion about the atmosphere between her son and his best friend.

"There's nothing wrong," Woojin responds.

Hyeongseop gulps. He hasn't said anything, and he feels bad that Woojin is doing all of the cover up, so he lets out a ' _yeah_ ' because he can't think of anything other than agreeing with Woojin's words.

"We're just tired, that's all," he adds, looking at Hyeongseop who locks his eyes with him afterwards. Hyeongseop nods eagerly, saying that everything her son is telling is true.

Both of the mothers look at each other, then back at the two boys suspiciously. They let go of the matter anyway, and Woojin stands up.

"Let's go, Hyeongseop," he says, after he puts their plates to the sink. He pulls Hyeongseop up from his seat, leaving the two mothers in the kitchen puzzled.

 _There it is again,_ Hyeongseop thinks. The anxiety of Woojin feeling his pulse racing aggressively while he's holding his wrist. But he is more agitated thinking about what are they going to do in his bedroom. The last time he went here was more than twenty four hours ago (it didn't go well), yet he feels like he hasn't entered in forever.

When they both sit down on his bed, Woojin lets go of Hyeongseop to take out his laptop. "Do you wanna play something?" he asks, typing his passcode to unlock it. "Or do you wanna watch a movie?"

Hyeongseop stares at the laptop, thinking of an answer. Woojin is acting like nothing had happened. _Should I just go along with him?_ He locks his eyes with Woojin's, and gives him the most serious look he has ever put on.

"I wanna talk."

Woojin doesn't move or say anything, and Hyeongseop, again, starts to feel small under his gaze. His gaze is steady yet indecipherable; but there's something about it that's making him feel jittery.

"I mean... a movie would be great," Hyeongseop says, finally breaking the eye contact. He looks at the laptop, about to unlock it but Woojin closes it.

"Okay, talk." He puts his laptop away, and makes himself comfortable by leaning onto his headboard. His dark grey covers are covering up his straight legs, and he crosses his arms while fixing his gaze at Hyeongseop. "What do you wanna talk about?"

Hyeongseop is at his state where everything he does is going to be embarrassing and regretful. His eyes are wide and he knows that he's going to stutter and say things bluntly, so he inhales silently, and exhales loudly.

 _Why did he have to sit like that?_  he thinks.

His lips transform into a frown. "You know what."

Woojin nods, expression still the same; it's a poker face yet his gaze is soft. "The kiss?"

Hyeongseop grimaces, and Woojin almost chuckles. "Y-yeah, that."

Woojin bites his lower lip, looking away for a second until he looks at Hyeongseop again. "Look, I know you did it because you were curious, and I had agreed to do it because I also was—you know, we're in our adolescent years."

Hyeongseop gapes, and he blinks at Woojin, before responding. "Yeah, I'm sorry." He did not expect those words so he's kind of feeling crushed yet relieved at the same time.

"You don't have to. I was the one who initiated the kiss."

"Well, I asked you for it."

"I could've said no, but I didn't." Woojin sighs. "I didn't think much about it other than the fact that kissing is kinda nice."

The butterflies in Hyeongseop's stomach are so energetic.

"That's why I didn't understand why you avoided me the whole time today at school."

"You didn't talk to me either!"

"Well, you know how I am. I didn't want to say anything after I noticed the way you acted around me, you kept avoiding my eyes."

Hyeongseop feels so guilty. It's true that he would always be the one who approaches Woojin first before the other; it has always been like this since they were younger. Woojin has always been more shy than Hyeongseop, so of course Hyeongseop would be the louder one. But Woojin can be very loud, and it's the kind of Woojin Hyeongseop really likes.

It shows who Woojin truly is— teasing and playful. Hyeongseop likes that Woojin the most; he feels like Woojin trusts him when he acts like that around them. He is sure Jihoon and Haknyeon feels the same way, and maybe Hyeongseop's love for it is bigger. Thinking about this makes Hyeongseop fall in love over again. He wants to cry. He's still so young yet he has a very huge crush on his closest friend.

"I'm sorry. I was scared you hated me."

"Park Woojin, hating on Ahn Hyeongseop?" Woojin chuckles. "What kind of universe will that be?"

 

 

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

 

 

 

_It will be this universe._

At least, that's what Hyeongseop thinks.

They're drifting apart. They're in their second last year of high school, and Hyeongseop thinks they're drifting apart.

Jihoon is dating Jinyoung, Haknyeon is out there making more friends, Hyeongseop is still the same and Woojin has a girlfriend.

He wishes that this is all a joke but his long-term crush slash best friend is dating someone, and it's not him.

He stares at his homework, his pen hovering over it, and sighs.

He puts his head down and twirls his pencil around his finger. He is no longer in the mood for finishing this. Ever since they started high school, he doesn't go to Woojin's house to finish his homework together anymore. They still talk, and still go to each other's houses, but it's not that often as before, of course.

They're growing up. They have to focus on their own lives. They are in high school, too, and exams in high school are seriously important—that's what his mother said.

He's coping up fine. His studies are fine; grades are consistent, not improving nor dropping, but it's fine.

His physical health? Fine, _maybe_. He is getting less sleep than usual but it's still enough. Why? He stays up late thinking. About? School, and his life in general—like how pathetic he is. His friends are having improvements in their life, while he's still the same— _heck_ , his grades are even maintained.

His mental health? He thinks he's fine, yet he doesn't think he is. Truthfully? _He's not._

He really tries to let go of Woojin, really, and he almost succeeded, but one day Woojin exited out of his classroom and he had a shy smile on his face. It made Hyeongseop rethink about his life choices.

It was during their second month of junior year, and for the first time they didn't end up in the same class. Hyeongseop tried not to be disappointed, but now he thinks that it was a sign.

They were never not classmates. They were inseparable since first grade, minus the kissing incident which Hyeongseop really really tries to forget but he still groans thinking about it.

It was a sign that things were about to change. Although it had been changing since they first entered high school, the different classes case was a confirmation.

"What's with you?" Hyeongseop laughed at Woojin's pink ears.

One thing that they could still do together besides eating together during lunchtime and going to each other's houses is walking home from school together. Hyeongseop was always the one who finished his class first, so everytime he got out of class he ran to Woojin's classroom and waited for him patiently outside.

Woojin always had the same eager expression, eyes wandering all over the place to look for Hyeongseop. When his eyes finally landed on his best friend, he calmed down, and greeted him with a small smile.

This time, Woojin was smiling but he wasn't looking at Hyeongseop.

He only looked at him when Hyeongseop approached him. "Oh hey, Seopie."

Hyeongseop smiled in response. They walked out of the school grounds together, and Woojin somehow looked livelier than usual. Of course, it wasn't obvious, but the glint in his eyes were enough for Hyeongseop to find out.

"What happened?"

Woojin's smile fell, and he stammered out, "W-what do you mean what happened?"

"You look red."

"I do?" Woojin mumbled, hands now covering his face.

Hyeongseop laughed. "Yeah, it's cute. I rarely see you like this." Woojin surprisingly never found out about Hyeongseop's crush on him, so one advantage of this is that Hyeongseop is free to compliment him without Woojin feeling uncomfortable.

"Stop." Woojin chuckled, lightly pushing Hyeongseop by his shoulder.

"Not until you tell me why you seem like a high school girl in love."

"Hah, funny," he responded. "First things first, I'm a guy." Hyeongseop rolled his eyes playfully. "Second, I'm not in love."

"Really?"

"Yeah?"

"Sure, if you're not in love then mind telling me what made you happy back in class?"

"What do you mean made me happ—"

"Shut up, you know what I'm talking about."

Woojin pursed his lips. He looked at Hyeongseop, then looked away. He sighed, kicking a stone he finds near them.

"There's this girl," he started. Hyeongseop bit his lower lip, ignoring the way his stomach seemed to be dropping. "Ever since the first week of junior year, I may have developed an infatuation with her."

Hyeongseop stared at the ground, corners of his lips lifting up to form a smile. He avoided Woojin's eyes, not wanting the other to read him and find out how sad he seemed.

"Who is it?" he asked, voice cracking. He hopes Woojin didn't pick it up as he cleared his throat.

"I'm not sure if you know her, but her name is Kim Yerim."

"Oh." All Hyeongseop knew was that she was really smart and polite—not just that, she was also really beautiful. He saw her sometimes when he waited for Woojin outside his class, and honestly when he saw her for the first time he was captivated by her beauty.

_If only he didn't have a crush on Woojin then he would have fallen for her._

He choked out a laugh. "Though, the first week? It took you around five months to finally be comfortable with us."

"I know."

"You must really like her, then."

Woojin groaned. "I do."

Hyeongseop would be lying if he said that didn't hurt. _Hell_ , that was the most painful thing he has ever heard. He has dealt with Woojin having a crush on someone else that's not him, but it still aches him.

One thing that is worse is that Woojin has already liked her in the first week of school.

In the first week, everyone is only starting to get used to each other and some even still don't know names of their classmates yet.

But Woojin started to have a crush on someone.

It's laughable, really; because Woojin needs a lot of time to open up to someone, or even know and understand someone.

He feels betrayed because Hyeongseop had tried really hard to make Woojin come out of his shell and like him as a person. It took him five months.

Yerim took less than seven days for Woojin to fall for her.

This is maybe one of Woojin's improvements growing up — maybe he isn't as shy as before with strangers he just met, maybe he talks more now than only two to three words in a school day, or maybe he has been like that from the start but he wasn't like that with Hyeongseop.

The last one was just Hyeongseop self deprecating himself because Woojin hurt him unintentionally and Hyeongseop has not told him anything about his feelings for him.

But it's too late now.

Woojin started dating her two months later, after Haknyeon told him to ask her out since he got sick of Woojin's cries about how Yerim will never like a guy like him and how he was gonna deal with a one-sided love for the rest of his life, in which this silenced his three other childhood friends but of course, went unnoticeable by himself.

Jihoon and Haknyeon glanced at Hyeongseop who was smiling sadly, and he ignored their gazes which seemed to be pitying him as Woojin went on about how perfect Yerim was.

If those two months were miserable, then the months afterwards were much worse.

"I'm sorry, Seop-ah," Jihoon says. Hyeongseop looks up from his work, and stares at Jihoon. He blinks. Jihoon looks tired, but Hyeongseop knows he looks worse so he does not want to say anything.

"For what?" he asks.

"I know what you are thinking about," Jihoon articulates. "Nothing else makes you form that tiny grim smile on your face."

"I was smiling?" Hyeongseop grunts.

"It wasn't a nice smile, though," Jinyoung comments, sitting beside Jihoon. Hyeongseop turns to glare at him, and Jinyoung grins back. He does not know how and when did the couple get here but he knows that he wants them to leave.

"That's a lie, I know you're thankful we're here," Jihoon teases, and both of them laugh when Hyeongseop scrunches up his face when he realizes he has mumbled his thoughts out loud.

"Maybe," he replies. "I just don't want to worry you guys, it's my own problem."

"Your problems are our problems," Jihoon remarks, nudging his boyfriend who nods.

"Yeah, we're worried about you, but it's fine, you don't need to worry about us," Jinyoung says. Jihoon stares at him before rolling his eyes. Jinyoung lets out a fake gasp.

"That doesn't make sense," Jihoon states.

"It does."

"No, I don't understand so it doesn't."

"Well, it does. I was talking about how it's alright that we're worrying about him and that he shouldn't worry about us worrying about him," Jinyoung recites.

Jihoon scowls at him, "It doesn't!"

"Excuse me, it does, you just don't want to understand like you never do which is why you're not doing well in class."

"Take that back," Jihoon gasps. Their faces are so close, with Jinyoung's arm wrapped around his waist and their faces are only a few centimeters away. Jinyoung pushes his face closer until their noses are touching.

"Admit it, your mind is never in class."

"No!" Jihoon pulls his head back, so he can still face Jinyoung but there is more space in between their faces.

"It's true," Jinyoung chuckles, both arms now wrapped around Jihoon and he leans in again, making the other yelp when their noses bump together again. "You're always distracted; thinking about - hm, I don't know, your boyfriend?"

Hyeongseop gapes at the sight of a cocky Jinyoung, which is a side he didn't know existed.

Jihoon pushes him, trying to get away from his grip, but Jinyoung presses his lips to him, and his efforts are gone to waste, because he can't help but melt into the kiss. He only realizes a few seconds later that he's kissing back and they are kissing in front of his poor best friend, so he shrieks and pushes Jinyoung with all of his strength.

Jinyoung takes ahold of his wrist before he falls on his butt, and Jihoon only glares at him in return. "I hate you."

"You don't."

He ignores him and whips his head to Hyeongseop who looks like he just witnessed a murder.

"Thank you for reminding me of how lonely I am," he mutters, eyes not blinking and looking horrified.

Jinyoung suppresses a laugh as Jihoon wails, "I didn't mean to remind you that!"

 

 

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

 

 

"Hey, Woojinie," Hyeongseop says. "Tonight dinner is at my house, right? Are you coming?"

"Yeah," he replies, glancing at Hyeongseop before looking at the street again. As usual, the only time they can spend their time alone together is when they're walking home from school. "I'm sorry for not coming the last time."

"It's fine. I understand."

"Really?"

"Yeah, my mom said it's because we're growing up."

"My mom said that too."

"Mhm, so I'm fine with it. Don't worry."

Woojin stares at him, then looks away.

"Thanks, Hyeongseop."

Hyeongseop smiles up at him, and it falls instantly as he thinks about how Woojin never calls him Seopie anymore. The last time he did was probably last year, or when they graduated from middle school. He isn't sure if Woojin is now embarrassed to call him that, or it's just another sign that Woojin doesn't consider him as a close friend anymore.

"Do you have a crush?"

Hyeongseop almost trips on his feet, but Woojin quickly catches him and Hyeongseop accidentally pushes him away when Woojin tries to grab his waist to keep him steady.

He looks up in time and quickly grabs Woojin's arm before he loses his balance, but that does not stop Woojin from making a hurt expression.

"Why have you been acting like this?"

"W-What?"

"I-I don't know," Woojin says. "You're always looking away from me and you flinch easily when I touch you."

_It's because when I look at you I'll fall for your eyes even more, and when you touch me I feel those annoying sparks which makes me feel giddy but in the end I become despondent thinking that I was just being optimistic and hopeful._

"Sorry, I didn't know I was doing that."

"It's fine." Woojin puts his hands in the pocket of his uniform pants.

"I'm sorry," Hyeongseop repeats, feeling his chest tightening.

"Hey, it's fine," Woojin says. "So, do you?"

"Yeah," he admits truthfully. They have had this conversation multiple times, but Hyeongseop never tells him who and he is always thankful that Woojin never forces him to tell anyway.

But when he does, Hyeongseop brings up a lie. He chooses someone from their class that he knows who's really pretty and nice, and Woojin will start grinning at him teasingly, showing that little snaggletooth of his.

"Is it someone new?"

"No."

"You haven't told me about this, have you?"

"I don't think so."

"Well, do I know them?"

"Of course, you know a lot about them."

Woojin's eyes widen. "Oh?"

"Yeah." Hyeongseop giggles. "I'm not telling you who is it though."

"That's not fair," Woojin whines.

"Why wouldn't it be?"

"I wanna help you get together with them, you know, since you helped me with Yerim." He puts one of his hands out of his pocket to scratch his nape, a habit he he has recently developed to erase his other habit of biting his nails.

"That wasn't me, it was you."

"You did help me. If I had never told you about how much I liked her, I would have still been a coward who will never confess."

"But you managed to overcome that fear, so it's all you."

"Hyeongseop," he says in a serious tone. Hyeongseop turns around, and stops walking when he realizes Woojin has. Woojin looks away, and suddenly his ears are red. His gaze lands on the ground and he starts standing on his heels before standing up straight again. Hyeongseop raises a brow, laughing at his current state.

"Yeah?"

"Thank you."

"For what?"

"For everything. You're always so patient with me."

"I should be the one saying that." Hyeongseop snorts.

"I'm being honest. You've dealt with me for so long, along with Jihoon and Haknyeon, but you've always been the closest and also my favourite."

Hyeongseop almost chokes on his saliva. " _F-favourite?_ "

Woojin ignores him, and continues to blush an even darker shade of red. "I don't know what I would have been without you by my side. You're so patient and so nice and I— _ah_! I still have a lot more to say but this is embarrassing!" He groans, hands all over his face. "I'll just meet you tonight, bye Seopie!"

Hyeongseop watches as Woojin sprints to his house, slamming the door in process, and he stands there, frozen.

He stares at the closed door, and then he laughs. He laughs and he only pauses when he feels a sob forming at the back of his throat.

_How can I move on when you're like this?_

 

 

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

 

 

"Hyeongseop, do you wanna watch a movie tomorrow night?"

"In the cinema?"

"Yeah, we haven't been hanging out with each other lately and I apologize for that so I wanna make it up to you by bringing you out."

Hyeongseop stares at him. It's true that they haven't been hanging out. Both of them are always busy with their own school work that they have not gone to each other's houses for two months already, and during lunchtime in school they have other things to do so they can't really meet up either.

He also goes back home from school alone now since Woojin has been accompanying his girlfriend like the nice boyfriend he is.

Hyeongseop has only been hanging out with Jihoon as they are classmates while Haknyeon is in a different class so they are also not as close either.

He thinks about the times when they were supposed to hang out together and Woojin canceling at the last minute because of who knows what, and how Hyeongseop would just smile at him and say ' _It's fine, I understand_ ,' numerous times.

He is quite doubtful about the current situation and what Woojin is offering, scared that Woojin is gonna cancel it again and he is just gonna end up being despondent again. But the fact that he knows that they haven't been together lately makes Hyeongseop feel buoyant.

"If you're paying then it's on," he jokes.

Woojin grins. "Great, we'll meet at my house then!"

"Alright," Hyeongseop replies, and he is about to say something else but Yerim appears beside Woojin. She kisses Woojin who leans in as well, and smiles at Hyeongseop after they pull away.

"Hey, Hyeongseop," she greets. Hyeongseop smiles back at him.

"Hey, angel."

Yerim laughs. "You're the angel here."

Hyeongseop pouts, shaking his head in disagreement. One thing he hates about all of this is that Yerim is too perfect that he can't hate her at all. The excuse to hate on her just because she stole Woojin away from him is immature so he does not think about it much.

"Both of you are angels," Woojin says bluntly. Yerim and Hyeongseop turn to look at him, and the two of them burst out laughing. "What's funny?" He puts his arm around Yerim's shoulder, and Hyeongseop automatically eyes every movement, desperately wishing that he was her right now. "Anyways, I'll see you around, Hyeongseop."

Hyeongseop grins, "See you!" He waves at the pair walking past by him. They give him smiles, and go out of the school gates.

His smile falls afterwards, thinking about how cute they looked like, and maybe he just wasn't meant to be with Woojin after all.

He pushes away those thoughts and starts hyping up about tomorrow night.

 

 

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

 

 

 

"Mom, I'm going out tonight so help me pick a casual and nice looking outfit!" Hyeongseop informs after he comes out of the shower with only a towel wrapped around his waist and sees his mother passing by his room.

She stops walking to look at him. He gives her a smile, and disappears into his room to change.

He walks out a few minutes later, and opens his door wide for his mother to see. He calls out for her and rushes back inside to check himself out in the mirror. He is wearing a black and white flannel outfit. He frowns, thinking about how he looks weird and how it does not fit him at all.

He sighs, closing the door after yelling, "Hold on, mom!" to his mother who is already on her way to the room. She shakes her head and decides to wait in front of his room.

He opens up the door again, and grins at his mother before going to the mirror and see himself. This time he is wearing a dark green sweatshirt with sleeves that go past his palms and a pair of jeans. "I look so small and weird!" he cries out.

His mother stands beside him and looks at him from the mirror. "No, you don't."

"I do. I'm gonna change again so you can leave mom," he says, softly pushing his mother out of his room. She tries to stop him by turning her body around, facing him and catching him off guard. "Mom!" he whines.

"Seop-ah, you look fine," she states, sounding honest. "Since when did you care how do you look like?"

Hyeongseop pouts. "Since every one of my friends start having their own partners and I don't."

She laughs. "I'm pretty sure their partners don't like them for their looks."

"Mom, I'm the potato of the group."

She rolls her eyes. "I'm not being biased but you're the best looking," she whispers jokingly. "If not, then this title goes to Jihoon."

Hyeongseop whines.

"Besides, it's not because of your looks, I bet you get a lot of confessions from your schoolmates."

"I don't."

"Don't lie, I see love letters in the trashcan all the time. Why do you never keep them?"

Hyeongseop scunches up his face, disappointed that he is being exposed. "I don't know. I can't seem to return their feelings."

"Why?"

"I already have someone I like." He looks at his mother in the eye. She raises a brow.

"Is that someone going to be the person you're meeting with tonight?"

He nods slowly, a pout forming on his lips.

"Is it Woojin?"

Hyeongseop lets out a gasp and he steps back away from his mother in shock. She crosses her arms together and looks at him with a smug expression.

"It is not!"

"It is."

"How do you even know?"

"His mother told me he was gonna go out with you."

Hyeongseop groans. "I totally forgot you are besties with his mom."

"I'm kidding. I found it out because there's no one else I know that will make you ecstatic and nervous at the same time except for him."

"Mom," he croaks out. There are tears forming around his eyes, and his lips are pursed when he accidentally tastes his salty tears. His mother walks towards him and pulls him into a hug. He puts his face on her shoulder, sobbing silently. He is so emotional. He can't believe he is relieved that his mother knows.

"Why are you crying?"

"I don't know," he breathes out. "I'm just, surprised, that's all."

"You're a big boy but you're still a crybaby."

His laugh mixes up with his sobs, and he finally pulls back when he stops crying. She wipes his tears away and he stares at her with his red eyes.

"How'd you know?" He sniffs.

"I'm your mother."

Hyeongseop nods, sniffing again. "I'm in love with him, mom."

"I know."

"But he has a girlfriend."

"I know."

"It hurts me so much but everyday my love for him gets bigger."

"I know, I've always known since you were younger."

He starts crying again. "I wanna move on, but I don't know how to. He's a part of my life. Even if we don't really talk or see each other as much as we used to, I can't seem to get over him."

"I know." She pulls his head and lets him cry on her shoulder again.

"I love him so much."

"I know."

 

 

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

 

He finally reaches Woojin's house, so he pauses the music playing on his phone and pulls out his earphones.

He rings the doorbell and the door opens to his mother. She looks surprised but she smiles instantly and pulls him into a hug. "Hello, Hyeongseop. I haven't seen you since forever."

He hugs back awkwardly. He is a bigger boy now so it kind of feels weird doing it, but the discomfort vanishes immediately when they pull away.

"I came here earlier this month." He laughs, and she shakes her head.

"I got used to seeing you everyday so that's a long time for me," she jokes. Hyeongseop grins, and tries to ignore his heart aching because of how he and Woojin are really not that close anymore. "Were you looking for Woojin?"

"Ah, yeah."

"Oh?" she says. "He left already."

"He did?"

"Yeah, said he went out to meet someone."

"Oh." _Did he remember wrongly?_ He remembers that Woojin has asked him to meet up at his house — maybe Woojin has sent him a text message about the change of plans and he has not checked his phone since he came back from school. "Alright, thank you. Have a good night." He quickly waves at Woojin's mother, who does not get to ask what is Hyeongseop up to.

It takes him more than ten minutes to reach the nearest shopping mall in the neighbourhood, and it is where the cinema they always go to is located.

He checks his phone after looking around for Woojin to see if Woojin has texted him. He has no notifications so he sits down on one of the seats outside the cinemas, and decides against texting Woojin.

He plays a game to kill time and only opens the messaging app five minutes later. His fingers hover over the keyboard, thinking of what to send to Woojin.

He has never really hesitated when it comes to Woojin. He is reckless and very impulsive, but ever since he and Woojin have not been together as much, he doubts his current closeness with Woojin. He thinks that he should start thinking before doing and change for the better, since he is the only one who has not changed in his group of friends.

He waits for ten minutes, and stands up. He walks around the place to look for Woojin. His mother told him that he has already gone earlier, _but why hasn't Woojin texted him?_

He finally types a few words, **_'where are you?'_** and sends it to him. He wants to punch himself, he didn't even type a hello. He should not be like this, Woojin is probably back to being awkward with him.

When they see each other in the hallway, Hyeongseop would grin at him and Woojin would wave in return. Back then, Hyeongseop would tackle him into a hug, and Woojin would laugh, "Hey, Seopie."

 _Now,_ it is different.

Hyeongseop sighs and continues to wander around. He seems sad and lonely but he does not care as he looks downcast with a pout on his face.

About half an hour later, he starts to think that Woojin has stood him up.

He blinks, halting his steps in front of a shop. _Stood him up?_

He does not really understand. They usually meet up in each other's houses so he has never been alone in public before.

This is the first time, and Woojin is not here. He starts to think that it is a bad idea. Woojin clearly told him he is going to meet him tonight, and even texted him about the place.

Although this isn't the first time Woojin has backed out on a plan (he has done this numerous times and those many times it had Hyeongseop crying to himself like the baby he is), this is the first time he doesn't inform Hyeongseop about it beforehand.

"Hyeongseop?" he hears someone call out.

He turns around, and sees someone familiar. His face breaks out into a smile and he feels his heart is about to burst. He does not know why he feels so relieved, but he knows that there are tears about to spill out.

He throws himself to that person, and they hug back, patting him softly.

"Hey, you alright?"

Hyeongseop pulls away, grinning brightly at him. "I've never been better." He does not let his tears fall down, but he is sure his eyes are shining due to them right now.

"What's up?"

"I," Hyeongseop starts. "I want to watch a movie."

"Me too." They smile. "Let's go together."

 

 

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

 

 

Hyeongseop takes the popcorn from the girl's hands, giving her a genuine smile. "Thank you!" He takes his can of coke and a straw before going out of the line.

"Let's go," he says to Euiwoong.

Euiwoong looks up from his phone, and his eyes widen. "Woah, that's a lot of popcorn."

Hyeongseop's eyes move from Euiwoong to the popcorn and then he looks up again. He grins cheekily. "I know."

Euiwoong raises a brow. "Are you sure you're gonna finish all of that?" He puts his phone into his pocket to help Hyeongseop carry his drink.

"Are you doubting me?" Hyeongseop snaps playfully. Euiwoong eyes him, as if saying yes I am. Hyeongseop's menacing (it wasn't even close) glare falls. "True, I can't finish this."

"Why did you buy a big one then?" The younger rolls his eyes.

"I wanted to share it with you!" he replies, pouting. Euiwoong stares at him, his ears turning pink.

"Well, I'll help you finish it."

"Yay! I knew I would always count on you," Hyeongseop states.

"Yeah, whatever hyung," Euiwoong grumbles in reply, avoiding Hyeongseop's eyes.

"I told you to drop off the hyung."

"I can't help it," he says. "Do you wanna enter now?"

"Is it open already?" Hyeongseop asks. Euiwoong nods. "Oh alright, let's go then."

They are about to start walking but Hyeongseop's phone vibrates, indicating that he has received a message. His smile falls and he looks at Euiwoong who is confused. Hyeongseop has forgotten that he is supposed to meet up with Woojin, so he hopes that it is a text from him.

"Hold on," he informs Euiwoong.

He wraps his left arm around his popcorn and takes out his phone using his right hand. He unlocks his phone and finds a text from Woojin.

 

**From: Woojinie  <3**

_oh my god hyeongseop i'm so sorry_

_i didn't mean to forget_

_where are you now?_

 

Hyeongseop purses his lips, feeling heartbroken for the umpteenth time. He bites his lower lip hard because he really is sensitive but he wants to prevent the tears from falling. He quickly types back a reply with one finger.

 

**To: Woojinie  <3**

_it's fine_

 

He locks his phone, and puts it back in the pocket. He smiles at Euiwoong who looks worried.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. Let's go," he responds, taking Euiwoong's hand and entwining their fingers together. At times like this, physical contact makes him feel better. He chuckles at the way Euiwoong's cheeks turn pink and how the younger looks awkward and shy now.

"Don't laugh, hyung. I'm just not used to this."

"Then I'll let go of you," Hyeongseop announces, pulling his fingers away but Euiwoong clutches harder, not letting go.

"It's fine. I know this makes you happy so I'm doing it," he grumbles. Hyeongseop grins.

"And this is why you're my favourite dongsaeng."

"Shut up."

Hyeongseop continues to tease Euiwoong when they start to walk towards the venue, but he halts when his eyes land on someone he does not want to see right now.

The person is grinning and his arms are wrapped around his girlfriend's waist. Both of them exit the cinema with the other people who just finished watching the movie. He turns his head around, and his smile disappears when he meets Hyeongseop's gaze.

" _Woojin,_ " Hyeongseop whispers under his breath. He tightens his grip with Euiwoong's fingers, and the younger looks at Woojin, and back at the person beside him.

"Hyeongseop—"

Hyeongseop pulls Euiwoong and both of them enter the cinema quickly, running to their seats to hide away from Woojin. He ignores the feeling of his heart breaking as he listens to Woojin shouting his name repeatedly.

He hears the workers guarding the doors of the venue telling Woojin to keep quiet and leave. He whimpers, and Euiwoong lets his head rest on his shoulder.

"It's fine. He's gone now," he tells him. He puts his arm around Hyeongseop's shoulder and hushes him softly. Hyeongseop does not cry. He does not want to cry, but it hurts. He saw Woojin, and he was leaving the cinema with Yerim, when he was supposed to be doing that with Hyeongseop.

_It really hurts._

Hyeongseop starts to think that maybe he is not as significant in Woojin's life like Woojin is in his life.

Woojin is the type of person who remembers things easily while Hyeongseop is the one who tends to forget; which is why they fitted together perfectly. Woojin would remind Hyeongseop of things he was supposed to do and everytime Hyeongseop is thankful for it, not being able to imagine how his life would be like without Woojin.

He thinks about the excuse of Woojin probably transforming into a forgetful person, and the fact that Woojin is a human and he makes mistakes and that this doesn't happen frequently, but it still hurts and Hyeongseop does not want to see Woojin again.

 

 

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

 

 

Jihoon pulls out all of the candy from the plastic bag. "I bought these from the shop nearby, they looked nice and reminded me of you so." He winks at Hyeongseop, and arranges them on his bed where Hyeongseop is leaning against his headboard and is wrapped around his blanket.

"I know you're doing this to make me feel better."

"What? No, it was just a coincidence that I was walking nearby," he says, shaking his head. He grins as he sees the pieces of candy nicely arranges. "There, you can pick anything you want. You can have it all."

Hyeongseop stares at the candies, and looks up at Jihoon who looks eager. His best friend nods up at him.

"Go on."

He rolls his eyes. "I'm fine, Jihoon."

"I really did get these for you just because it's a coincidence!"

"Keep lying," he replies. "When you lie your cheeks turn darker than usual."

Jihoon puts up his hands on the both of his cheeks, covering them. He pouts. "I thought I was doing fine."

"With that face? Nah."

"Stop, you're bad at lying too."

"When do I ever lie?"

"You just did—by saying you were fine."

Hyeongseop sighs.

"You need to stop lying to yourself, too," Jihoon says, sitting down in front of Hyeongseop with his legs crossed.

"It's not lying, I just keep telling myself that so I can feel better."

"It doesn't work."

"Yeah, thanks for telling me."

Jihoon sighs, looking at his best friend with a frown. "You don't deserve this."

"Well..." Hyeongseop drifts off, pulling his legs up to his chest and wraps his arms around them.

"Okay, I gotta be honest here," Jihoon starts, shifting closer to Hyeongseop. "It's going to blow your mind."

"Blow my mind?" Hyeongseop snickers.

"Yes," Jihoon snaps, before turning serious again. "But I feel like Woojin had feelings for you."

Hyeongseop raises a brow and replies sarcastically, "Yeah, me too."

Jihoon smacks him. "No, I'm being serious!" he says. "You see, the way Woojin had treated you was different than he had treated the others."

"I was the closest to him."

"Exactly! But I was the first one who talked to him, and we were seatmates for two years but he was more closer to you."

"Maybe you're boring."

"That's not the point!"

Hyeongseop suppresses a smile, and gives him a nod for him to move on.

"Woojin is definitely in love with you."

"Is? He has a girlfriend."

"I forgot," Jihoon mutters.

"We haven't even been talking lately because he loves Yerim too much," Hyeongseop mumbles sadly.

"W-well, I," Jihoon starts. He purses his lips, thinking of more words to say. He hits his own lap after a few seconds. "This is why I have bad grades."

"Yeah, and it's not good for your image at all."

Jihoon groans. "Why are you insulting me when you're the one who looks like a mess right now?"

"Insults won't hurt me anymore, I'm already dead inside."

"But really, you should talk to Woojin."

"And why should I do that?" He tilts his head.

"That guy won't stop bothering me since you literally run away when you hear his voice or even sense him—which I don't understand how do you even do that but I guess love speaks by itself but I'm really tired of him nagging me. Plus, I have to stop talking to him even when he's my friend too just because everytime I look at him all his face screams is _Let Me Love Hyeongseop_."

Hyeongseop lets out a laugh. "Funny one."

"I know, but it's not a joke. How do you even do _that_? Avoid him? I swear it has been two weeks already and this is the longest I've seen both of you separated, not counting the time when he went back to Busan during the summer a few years ago and you didn't leave the house until Woojin came back a month later like wow are you really that smitten with him?"

Hyeongseop smiles sadly, looking down when he feels his heart clenching again because he really loves Woojin a lot.

"It's sad."

"Yeah, and you should man up and confess."

"Confess?" Hyeongseop gawks. "He has a girlfriend! I don't wanna ruin our friendship."

"Uh, it's sorta ruined right now but you really gotta let it out. It's been, what, ten years?"

"That's so long—"

"It's been ten years."

"Yes, it has been ten years."

" _Wow,_ " Jihoon says, jaw dropping. "I had to deal with my one sided crush for Jinyoung for three painful years."

Hyeongseop winces, and he is sure he is imagining the sound of his heart breaking again. Jihoon looks at him and grimaces.

"Sorry."

"It's fine."

Jihoon sighs again. "At least," he starts. "At least can you guys talk to each other again? I'm pretty sure it's hurting you both, and it hurts me as well."

"Yeah, alright."

 

 

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

 

Hyeongseop exhales a long breath and roams his eyes around the classroom. He has just finished cleaning up and it is really late that the school is silent and eerie. He looks outside at the red sky and thinks that he should head home now.

He rushes to the school gates and bows at the security he sees who waves at him. "You're late again."

Hyeongseop grins sheepishly, "I know, but I'll go back safely!" He gives him a thumbs up. The older man shakes his head but smiles at him anyway.

"Have a great night, Hyeongseop-ah."

"You too, Mr. Kim!"

He walks around the corner to his neighbourhood and sighs contentedly, knowing that his home is near and he should let his guard down now.

_Bad mistake._

He lets out a scream when he feels someone from the back of a building come out and pulls his arm. His screams are muffled when the attacker put their hands on Hyeongseop's mouth, placing Hyeongseop in front of them, against their chest.

Hyeongseop opens his mouth and bites their palm. He grimaces at the feeling but feels glad when he successfully makes the other person let go of him. He is about to run away without looking back but the person speaks up.

"Ew!" he hears a familiar voice say. He stops and turns around. He lets out a gasp, hands on his mouth.

"Oh my God."

"Yeah, me too," Woojin says, wiping his hands on the back of his school pants.

"Why did you even do that?!" Hyeongseop exclaims.

Woojin stops wiping and looks up at Hyeongseop with one of his brows raised. "Because if I approached you normally you would run away."

"Well, you doing this would also make me run away! I almost had a heart attack!"

"I'm sorry! I didn't have any other idea!"

"Really? Pretending to kidnap someone is your only idea?"

Woojin is about to snap back, but he stops and lifts one of his hands to rub at his nape. "I-I mean," he stammers out. He puts back his arm down and looks up at Hyeongseop. "No, not really. I'm sorry."

Hyeongseop bites his lower lip. "Okay," he responds before turning around to walk back to his home. Woojin grabs his arm again, pulling him back.

Hyeongseop whines when he almost falls, and glares at Woojin. "What?"

"Come with me."

Hyeongseop widens his eyes.

"N-no! I didn't mean we're running away together!" Woojin exclaims.

"Oh." Hyeongseop deflates, and pouts.

Woojin stares at him. "You wanted to run away?"

"No, I just thought that it'd be funny you were ridiculous enough to do that."

"Well, I love my home and I'm not planning to go away from my mom."

Hyeongseop nods slowly, looking down at his arm where Woojin's hand is still wrapped around his wrist.

Woojin notices it and lets go. Hyeongseop bites his lower lip to prevent himself from pouting, lifting his head up to look at Woojin.

"So?"

"Ah, yeah," Woojin says, and he is back to a stuttering mess. "I-I want to apologize, but I know saying sorry will not be enough—" Hyeongseop nods aggressively. "—so I want to take you to the cinema."

"Right now?"

"Right now."

"Are you _crazy?_ We need to inform our moms and change our school unifo—"

 

 

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

 

 

Woojin has really changed.

It is as if their roles are switched. Back then, Hyeongseop would be the wild one—always dragging Woojin into a mess that they had enjoyed afterwards, but got themselves into trouble.

Now Hyeongseop is staring at Woojin who is asking him questions about what does he want to buy, and which movie does he want to watch because he is going to pay for all of this and give Hyeongseop anything he wants.

They get looks from other people because of their outfit, and Hyeongseop feels uncomfortable but ignores them and tries to focus on Woojin only.

Woojin turns his head, and Hyeongseop's eyes move quickly from his lips to his eyes. "So?"

"Uh, Zootopia sounds fun."

"Okay," Woojin says, giving him a shy smile before looking away. He leans in closer to Hyeongseop's side, and whispers. "I honestly still don't know how to talk to the people on the counter, but I'm gonna give it a try."

Hyeongseop tries not to think about how close his face was, and the flashbacks of their kiss when they were younger is haunting him. He laughs at Woojin, glad that there is still the Woojin he knows; shy and awkward. "You know I can do it for us, right?"

Woojin shakes his head. "I'm treating you, so you're not gonna have to deal with talking to," he shivers jokingly, "people."

Hyeongseop lets out a genuine laugh, and he smacks Woojin. "Since when did you become a jokester?"

Woojin blushes, "I'm not sure."

The other shakes his head, smile still plastered on his face. "Well, let's go. I'll be beside you so you won't have to be scared." On instinct, he takes Woojin's hand and interwines their fingers together. He is still smiling when he looks up from their hands to Woojin's face.

Woojin stares at their locked hands, and Hyeongseop feels the blood draining out of his body when he remembers that Woojin is taken. He tries to let go, "I'm sorry—" but Woojin takes his hands again.

"Okay, you'll be by my side," he states, staring into Hyeongseop's eyes.

The latter nods, ignoring the way his heart is beating faster than usual and how the butterflies in his stomach are screaming and the way he feels his face is heating up because he is with Woojin.

Woojin has changed, but there is a part of him that is still the same old Woojin and Hyeongseop feels relieved.

They enter the cinema and the movie starts as soon as they find their seats, so they do not look at each other and only fix their gazes on the screen in front of them.

In the middle of the movie, Hyeongseop makes some comments to Woojin—something that he usually does when watching a movie—and Woojin, who's used to it, nods in reply, not bothered by the way Hyeongseop seems to be distracting him.

Hyeongseop is thankful for that.

At one time Hyeongseop is focusing on the movie and he sees something funny that he wants to share to Woojin, but Woojin is checking his phone with a smile on his face.

Hyeongseop observes how his fingers are typing quickly on his phone and how he covers his mouth with his hand to prevent himself from making a noise when laughing. He doesn't know how long he stares, but when Woojin notices, his smile falls.

He puts his phone away and looks at Hyeongseop. "Sorry," he whispers. "Yerim texted."

Hyeongseop knows that. He knows but he still hears his heart cracking once again. He shakes his head at Woojin and gives him a smile. "It's fine." He whips his head to the screen, somehow his mood is ruined and he isn't able to focus on the movie anymore.

He turns to Woojin, and quickly tells him, "I gotta go to the bathroom." Woojin doesn't get to reply to him as he rushes out of the cinema.

 _Ah,_ he thinks. _I'm so pathetic._

This time he lets his tears fall when he walks outside and is slapped in the face by the cold breeze. He is running and he almost laughs at how funny he probably looks like.

 _Why am I so childish,_ he thinks. He wants to scream. A few words from Woojin can already break him and now he feels like his whole night has been ruined.

But it is confirmed.

Woojin looked happy, he really beamed when he was looking at his phone. Hyeongseop is glad. He is glad that Woojin found someone who makes him feel blissful.

For Hyeongseop, that _someone_ is Woojin.

But it is truly confirmed. Hyeongseop will never get his love in return, so he decides that moving on is finally what he is going to do.

 

 

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

 

 

"Why did you do that?"

"Do what?"

"Why did you run away?"

"Oh, that," Hyeongseop says. "I wasn't feeling well, so I thought going home would be a nice choice."

Woojin frowns. "You still could've told me. I looked everywhere for you. You didn't even reply to my texts!"

Hyeongseop gulps, ignoring the way how his stupid head is being hopeful again but he knows that Woojin is only being a nice friend.

"I'm sorry."

Woojin sighs. "It's fine." He continues to stare at Hyeongseop, and him brows furrow a bit as if he's trying to read something off of the other's face. Hyeongseop shifts uncomfortably under the stare. It's been a while since Woojin has focused his attention on him, so it's a foreign feeling - somehow. Then, he sighs. "I just wish you'd tell me if something's wrong," he mutters, so low that Hyeongseop almost has difficulty in trying to figure out the words coming out from his mouth.

He looks at his watch and gives Hyeongseop an apologetic smile before Hyeongseop can open his mouth. "I have to go now. Bye Hyeongseop!" He runs to the direction of the school gates.

Hyeongseop waves at him although he is not looking, patting himself inwardly that he knows Woojin is looking for his girlfriend. He sighs, walking to his classroom.

Months pass by and he is distancing himself from Woojin successfully. They are at the point where they do not even talk to each other anymore and only glance at each other in the hallways.

It is all thanks to Hyeongseop always making up excuses which make sense, of course, so that he does not have any conversations with Woojin. Woojin believes him anyway so in the end they do not ever talk anymore.

It concerns the people around them, especially long-term best friends; Haknyeon and Jihoon, and their mothers.

But now that it has been happening for a long time, they let go of the matter.

There was this one time of the month, when Jihoon's words had been haunting him more than usual, so he decided to listen to his mind and do it.

He texted Woojin to meet him up in the nearest park, and Woojin, not having anything to do, agreed with him.

Hyeongseop looked up from his phone and saw Woojin dressed comfortably in a sweatshirt and Hyeongseop wanted to cry because Woojin looked so good.

They talked for a while until Hyeongseop finally brought up the main topic.

"So, uh, I called you to come here tonight because I wanted to explain why I have been avoiding you."

"Avoiding me," Woojin repeated. "I thought I was imagining it, but it's true that you've been avoiding me." He looked sad, and Hyeongseop wanted to back out but he looked away so he didn't have the urge to.

"I like you."

He wasn't looking at Woojin, but Woojin was tilting his head to look at him. "What?"

"I-I'm in love with you."

He dared himself to look up, and the expression Woojin wore was appalling. He felt like crying again but he didn't want to look weak.

"I've liked you since we were younger." He ignored the sobs bubbling up in his throat. "I knew you would never like me back but everyday I still fell for you."

"Seop—"

"I had to deal with it on my own because it was my own problem, my own feelings, and I told myself to get over you but I couldn't, because I was assured that you would also develop feelings for me." He looked at Woojin again, and Woojin looked very guilty.

He looked away.

"Of course, you didn't. You started having a girlfriend, too, and I was happy for you—I am happy for you." He licked his lips and tasted the saltness of his tears. "But I'm sorry, these feelings won't go away unless I stop being by your side."

"Hyeongseop, please—"

"I know you feel bad right now, because me too, I feel sorry for myself but I'm fine and I wanna do this, after so long I am finally telling you this and I want us to be strangers again."

"We can't do _that—!_ "

"I'm sorry, Woojinie. I-I love you, which is why I'm doing this because I don't wanna hurt you or myself anymore." He sobbed. He couldn't breathe because _wow Woojin was rejecting him_ and he was also hurting himself. "I'm sorry."

 

 

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

 

It's finally summer break, and it is the first summer that Hyeongseop does not spend with Woojin even when they are both available and still in the country.

Hyeongseop takes a part-time job since he does not really have anything else to so, and he works with Jihoon and Jinyoung so he isn't alone.

 _Scratch that,_ he is kind of always third-wheeling.

Jinyoung is really shy when you first meet him but Hyeongseop swears that he is the one that keeps initiating PDA with Jihoon, and he finds it disgusting—maybe it is Hyeongseop's lonely mind speaking, but maybe they're doing things that you shouldn't do in public at all.

He sees Jihoon always scolding Jinyoung about it and he rolls his eyes because Jihoon keeps giving in anyway, so it is pointless but he tries not to care and only care for customers who come in peace.

Yerim comes by one afternoon, which has surprised all of them, and _of course_ he goes up to Hyeongseop. "Hey, Hyeongseop."

"Oh, hi Yerim!"

"I didn't know you worked here," she says, eyes looking around the department store.

Hyeongseop laughs. "Well, I just started this summer."

"Nice, I don't even know how to earn money on my own," Yerim tells him, a small pout forming on her lips.

"I mean, I could ask the boss to hire you for you to work here. He's really nice." Hyeongseop winks at her.

She giggles. "Thank you, but I don't think my parents would let me."

Hyeongseop pouts. "That's too bad."

She nods, agreeing. She gives him money after he tells him the price, and looks around to see if someone is waiting behind her in line. There is no one so she continues to talk to Hyeongseop.

"How are you? I haven't seen you around lately with Woojin. I've missed you, you know."

"Aw, really? I've missed you too," he replies, voice not faltering after she brings up about him and Woojin. He has been really good at hiding his emotions lately and he is proud of himself.

"I hope you two are still talking though," Yerim says. "You're all he ever talks about that I forgot he has other friends, too."

Hyeongseop almost chokes, and he wants to punch himself because he feels his smile is dropping. "W-what?"

Yerim does not notice so she responds, "Yeah. He keeps telling me about how you're doing so I take it as you guys are still closer than ever?"

He wants to laugh. "Not really."

Her eyebrows raise up. "Really? That's weird."

"Yeah, I honestly don't know how he's doing."

"Oh," Yerim says. "Are you sure? He brings up your name a lot." She chuckles. "His stories are pretty fun to hear, honestly."

"What does he tell you?" Hyeongseop's eyes are wide.

"Nothing embarrassing." She smiles, before dropping it. "You're his first ever best friend right?"

Hyeongseop nods.

"I guess that's why he talks about you a lot. You're his longest friend after all."

He bites his lower lip. He really should stop being optimistic, because what she's saying is true. _Why would Woojin be talking about only him?_ Of course, it's because Hyeongseop is his longest closest friend, and even if they do not talk now, Yerim does not even mention about how Woojin probably keeps talking about how much he misses him— which he does not, so Hyeongseop puts on a smile.

"Yeah, I sure am."

 

 

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

 

 

Before summer started, Hyeongseop had been trying real hard to spend his last days of school before the semester ends nicely, but he kept thinking about the high possibility of them not being classmates again for their last year of high school, and thought that life is really telling him that he should move on.

And he really does.

He tries to. He rarely saw Woojin during the last few weeks of school. Normally he was just stuffing his nose with books, third-wheeling Jihoon and Jinyoung, or he was hanging out with Euiwoong.

Euiwoong is a nice company. Although he is grumpy and mature than Hyeongseop who is older than him by two years, he is really fun to be with. Sometimes they went out together with Euiwoong's best friend— a tall Chinese guy named Justin, and surprisingly he gets along with Hyeongseop pretty well.

There were times when he forgets that he is actually trying to get over an unrequited love, and also times when he sees something that reminds him of Woojin (which is literally almost everything) that he starts to feel his heart aching again.

All in all, it was fine.

They are all now focusing on their own lives. He has been so close with Woojin for so many years and now they do not even communicate but it is fine because not all friendships and relationships last forever.

 _I said it too fast,_ Hyeongseop thinks.

He opens the door to his house. His mother is out right now with her friends after Hyeongseop has nagged her about how she should relax and that he can take care of himself at home for the summer.

He was reluctant to open the door at first, but when he peeks into the peephole and sees Woojin, his fears wash away automatically.

He is only shocked when he looks at Woojin fully.

"Oh my God, what happened?" he asks, pulling Woojin into his house quickly and into his living room. Woojin's eyes are red, and he can't stop the sobs from coming out and Hyeongseop is so worried because he has never seen Woojin in this state.

"I," he hiccups. "C-can I have water?"

Hyeongseop nods frantically, standing up and rushing to the kitchen to grab a glass of water. He sits down beside Woojin again on the couch and hands him the glass. He watches as Woojin drink the water while soothing him by rubbing his hand up and down his back.

Woojin's eyes move up to make eye contact with him after he finishes gulping the last bit of water.

"Yerim dumped me."

Hyeongseop isn't surprised. Yerim has made him feel strong emotions so he really isn't surprised at all.

He feels bad, and he wants to hug Woojin with all of his might but he holds back because Woojin looks really hurt and he does not want to make it worse.

"I look miserable, don't I?"

"Kinda."

One of the corners of Woojin's lip tugs upward. "I'm not sad that she dumped me."

"Okay, you can lie about anything but that's the worst lie I've ever heard—"

"Hear me out."

Hyeongseop pauses, looking at Woojin in the eye before nodding. He puts his hands on his lap as Woojin inhales.

"One thing, she dumped me because of you."

"Woojin, don't tell me you told her about my feelings for you..."

"I did."

Hyeongseop gawks at him. "This is not how I wanted things to be!" He hates that he can feel his tears brimming in his eyes again. "I wanted you to be happy," he chokes out.

"N-no, Seopie, please listen." Woojin puts his hands on top of Hyeongseop's ones on his lap, and he carefully cards their fingers together.

Hyeongseop sniffs, trying not to cry as he nods at Woojin for him to continue.

"She was yelling at me about how I've changed and how I was being a bad boyfriend."

"Bad boyfriend? Excuse me, I've seen the way you treated her and—" Woojin gives him a look to hush him. "Sorry."

"The night when you confessed, I started thinking about us—about the things you've done for me and how oblivious I had been. It made me reflect all of my actions and I couldn't stop shaking because of how badly I treated you," he says. "I thought about how long you have liked me, and all of the things I did throughout those years. I can't believe you even helped me get together with Yerim. Are you stupid?"

Hyeongseop gives him a mournful smile.

"If anyone's stupid though, it's me. I was distressed thinking about you. I couldn't stop thinking about how you're doing and what are you up to, and I admit I missed your voice, your laugh, your cheeky smile, and everything else about you.

It wasn't just your confession, but the fact that you wanted to end our friendship. Heck, do you even know how much that hurt me? _Hyeongseop_ , y-you're everything to me. I am so sorry it took me so long to realize that but I have always been uptight when I don't see you, and when days pass by of us not talking to each other. I've only realized then how significant you are in my life.

But I was a coward. I didn't want to say anything or approach you but Yerim noticed it. She noticed how downcast I have been feeling and I shrugged it off."

He stops to chuckle.

"She even mentioned your name without me even having to explain why I was feeling under the weather. I was surprised at how much she knew me. She was really nice and understanding but one night I started thinking about how if I had to only choose one person to spend my life with, I was really shocked when I muttered out your name.

It's funny, really, that this was how I found out about my feelings for you. But I-I love you, Ahn Hyeongseop, not in the friendly way but in the more than friends way. I know I'm blabbering right now but I do it a lot when I'm nervous and when I'm around you, why do you never tell me about how clueless I am? I swear back then I thought you were the idiotic one but wow it's actually me— hey Seopie please don't cry, I hate seeing you cry. I can feel my heart twisting right now, _please_."

Hyeongseop doesn't realize he is biting his lower lip and the fact that his cheeks are so wet until he opens up his mouth to laugh.

"Don't cry," Woojin says softly, hands reaching out to wipe his cheeks.

"It's called tears of joy, Woojinie."

Woojin freezes, and then he bursts out laughing. He smiles at the memory while gazing into Hyeongseop's eyes.

He pulls Hyeongseop into his lap, putting his arms around his waist. "Can I kiss you?"

Hyeongseop doesn't reply, only smashing their lips together as he starts to cry again. Woojin kisses back, scrunching his nose when he tastes his salty tears.

"God." He pulls away. "You're such a crybaby."

Hyeongseop wails louder, and Woojin's eyes widen looking at his runny nose. "I know," he says while grinning. Woojin quickly takes the tissue box from the table near them, and wipes Hyeongseop's tears along with his snot.

"Ew."

"I know."

Woojin puts the tissues away, and then continues to tighten his grip around Hyeongseop's waist. He leans in so their foreheads touch.

"I'm sorry I took so long, angel," he whispers. Hyeongseop throws his head back to let out a laugh because that, coming out from Woojin sounds so funny yet it's horrifyingly cute. He connects their foreheads together again, and grins at how Woojin is now as red as a tomato.

"I like you, Woojinie."

He pecks his lips, and when he is about to pull away, Woojin kisses him deeper. Hyeongseop gasps, but he leans in to the kiss, wrapping his arm around Woojin's neck.

"I like you too."

 

 

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

 

 

Hyeongseop's worst summer changes to the best summer ever just because of one person.

He has seen how lovely Woojin is as a boyfriend; his dejected self has observed the way he treats Yerim like she's the only thing that matters.

He used to think that Yerim is the luckiest girl in the world. 

He also used to think that he is the most caring, mature and understanding in his group of friends but Woojin has been doing these but they have always been discreet (not that Hyeongseop didn't notice).

If Woojin being discreet was already heartwarming enough, imagine now that he is more open with Hyeongseop.

He only ever shies away when it comes to things they aren't used to doing, but now that they're used to kissing he always takes control and it takes Hyeongseop by surprise everytime even when he's supposed to be used to it by now.

They spend the whole summer break together, going out or spending their time in Woojin's room. Their friends— mostly Jihoon and Jinyoung, since Haknyeon is in Jeju more than half of the time— sometimes come by and hang out with them.

When Jihoon first came to Hyeongseop's house, he freaked out when he saw Woojin who just waved at him. Jihoon dropped all of the plastic bags filled with sweets and chocolates, and asked Hyeongseop to explain to him.

"We've made up!" Hyeongseop told him happily. Jihoon stared at him.

"When did this happen?"

"Uh, five days ago, I think?"

Jihoon groaned, "I shouldn't have let Jinyoung trap me in his room! I wanted to check up on you since you didn't reply to my texts either but he kept telling me you were fine and I didn't believe him so I finally escaped and went to the nearest candy shop again and bought all of these to make up for the days I didn't come and now I'm here and I walked in on you and Woojin playing video games together?"

Hyeongseop grinned sheepishly. "I might've been too excited so I didn't check my phone," he whispered to Jihoon.

Jihoon rolled his eyes.

"I'm sorry," Hyeongseop said, pouting. He hugged Jihoon tightly, hoping to wipe off the frown off his face.

Jihoon sighed. "It's fine." He smiled at Hyeongseop. "I'm just glad you two made up."

"Me too." He grinned.

 

 

 

  

* * *

 

 

 

 

 

"Hyeongseop," Euiwoong calls out softly.

"Hmm?" Hyeongseop looks up from his book to look at Euiwoong. He leans against his locker and shuts the book close.

"I'm sorry if this is too personal—"

"Woongie, we're already far past the formal hyung-dongsaeng relationship."

"I can't help it!"

Hyeongseop pouts.

"Look, you can not reply but," Euiwoong starts, gazing at Hyeongseop. "Are you and Woojin finally _dating?_ "

Hyeongseop gazes back at him, before laughing loudly. "What?"

"You guys have made up and I've seen that both of you have been more," he pauses. "Intimate than before."

Hyeongseop giggles. "Sometimes when people make up after fighting for a long time, it strengthens the bond even more."

"Oh, really?" Euiwoong nods, understanding clearly.

The older stares at him. " _Why?_ Are you jealous?"

"Me? Jealous? Of what?" Euiwoong crosses his arms together.

"Of Woojin being with me," Hyeongseop teases.

"Why would I be?"

"Euiwoongie, I know you have a crush on me."

Euiwoong looks shocked, and Hyeongseop laughs just like he does everytime Euiwoong's ears turn a darker shade of red.

"I-I do not!"

"You do."

"Fine, I do," The younger groans. "And I don't like it."

"Aww," Hyeongseop coos. "You're so cute."

"Not helping," he grumbles.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"I knew you would never look at anyone else other than Woojin," he mumbles grumpily.

Hyeongseop gives him an apologetic smile and Euiwoong's cheeks are now pink.

"Stop, I'm fine."

"I'm sorry, Euiwoong," Hyeongseop says, ruffling Euiwoong's hair. "You'll find someone better, I promise."

"Better than you? I bet not," Euiwoong mutters to himself audibly. He looks up at Hyeongseop. "Well, I can't wait until that happens because I don't even get why I like you," he lies.

Hyeongseop pulls him into a hug.

Euiwoong pats his back while he hugs back. "Yeah yeah, whatever."

 

 

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

 

 

Hyeongseop pulls away, catching his breath. His heart is beating fast, and it quickens when he turns to meet Woojin's hooded eyes.

"When are we telling them?" he asks.

Woojin rolls his eyes at the sudden question, and pulls their bodies closer with his arms around Hyeongseop's waist.

"I don't know," he replies.

"Ugh," Hyeongseop says. "It's so hard being able to kiss you without having to worry if anyone else is going to walk in on us."

"I locked the door, it's fine."

"Ah, but still," Hyeongseop replies. "I feel bad for not telling Jihoon about it."

"Then tell him."

Hyeongseop stares at Woojin, and Woojin only stares back. He sighs, getting off of Woojin's lap after minutes of kissing. Woojin whines, and Hyeongseop almost laughs.

"That's enough."

"But, baby—"

The door slams open.

"Oh my God," Jihoon breathes out, staring at Woojin who's above Hyeongseop on the bed. Jinyoung appears behind him, and lets out a tiny gasp.

Woojin and Hyeongseop look at each other before Hyeongseop pushes Woojin off of the bed.

"It's not what it looks like!"

"Oh?" Jihoon says.

"Yeah! I was just about to get off the bed but he accidentally pinned me down when he was supposed to pull me back onto his lap because— wait!"

"Lap? Okay, both of you have always been really touchy since you were younger but why do Hyeongseop's lips look pink?"

"You're just assuming stuff now!"

"Yeah, and there's no way of denying it since Woojin's hair looks so disheveled!"

Woojin quickly stands up from the floor and arranges his hair.

Hyeongseop cusses under his breath and reminds himself to stop pulling at Woojin's hair when they're making out, _goddamnit_.

"What are you?" Jinyoung asks.

Hyeongseop looks at Woojin and both of them stare at each other for a while.

Jihoon speaks up, "Hello? Stop looking at each other like you're in a cliche drama who can't be together because the world doesn't let them. Everyone has been waiting for both of you, you know."

Hyeongseop walks up to Jihoon and pulls him into a hug. "I love you, Jihoonie. Thank you for being the best supporting friend ever."

Jihoon stands there, not wanting to hug back because he is disappointed that Hyeongseop didn't tell him earlier. He sighs, hugging back.

"I love you too, Hyeongseop-ah."

Hyeongseop opens his eyes, and sees Jinyoung smiling at him. He clears his throat, not wanting to comment how Jinyoung's eyes seem to be telling him to back off. He pulls away from the hug and turns around to see Woojin biting his fingernails.

Woojin meets his eyes and he quickly puts away his hands, giving Hyeongseop a charming grin and Hyeongseop almost melts at the sight of his snaggletooth, but his eyes seem to say otherwise.

"I love you the most, of course," Hyeongseop says, walking up to Woojin to kiss him on the cheeks.

Woojin blushes, not used to Hyeongseop doing this in front of his friends who just started knowing that they are dating.

"Y-yeah, I love you too." He slowly wraps his arms around Hyeongseop's waist and the other snuggles beside him. They stare at Jinyoung and Jihoon who stare at them.

"That's oddly cheesy," Jihoon comments.

"Have you seen yourselves?" Hyeongseop bites back.

Jihoon grins. "We're the cutest, after all." He pecks Jinyoung's lips.

"Shut up, Jihoon. We are."

"Not really. We've been dating for so many years, too, and you?" Jihoon jokes.

Hyeongseop plays along, and scoffs. "I've been in love for more than a decade. Our love is stronger."

"Oh, really? Since when?"

"Probably since we met, but that'd be ridiculous," he chuckles, "But I think I found out about it when Woojin made me feel like I matter the most, which was the day I turned eleven years old." He tries to give a smug smile to Jihoon but fails as his lips curl into a soft smile instead.

It only falls when he realizes Jihoon staring at him with his mouth opening in shock, while Jinyoung raises his eyebrows, impressed at his words.

Hyeongseop clears his throat, standing upright and turning his head to look at Woojin, who is staring at him wide-eyed.

"That long?" he whispers out, cheeks turning red.

Hyeongseop sighs. _My secret is out._

"Yeah, I've liked you for a longer time but I only knew I had fallen for you when you surprised me with a mini birthday party." Hyeongseop puffs out his cheeks.

Woojin's lips curl into a small smile.

"It was my intention, _anyway._ "

**Author's Note:**

> im sorry omg im really bad at writing but i just love these ships sm i wanna write about them falling in love 
> 
> AND SORRY FOR MISTAKES I AM NOT A PROFESSIONAL WRITER
> 
> i highkey ship euiwoong x hyeongseop too and lowkey wanted to make them canon bc WHEN IS WOOJIN GONNA RESPOND TO HYEONGSEOBS LOVE
> 
> but anyways i love jinseob so much i hope they revive bc i miss them sm
> 
> also hshdhd hmu on my twitter [@kimxjeon](https://www.twitter.com/kimxjeon) yodels


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